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elenatria · 4 years

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OKAY BUT FOR FUCKS SAKE WE NEED ALL THE DETAILS OF WHERE, WHEN AND HOW YOU MET THE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

I still haven’t processed everything, not because I’m starstruck that I saw Stellan for 3,5 seconds but because it was a miracle that it even happened. So this is not a “Stellan made me feel like a queen for five minutes” story (there was no time for that), it’s a “setting an impossible goal and achieving it” type of story.

@alyeen1 and I were discussing Stellan attending the Gothenburg festival back in January, and I was lamenting the fact that, despite learning about it three weeks in advance, the beginning of the new year had left me broke. I was totally regretting not having the money for that trip and Alyeen1 and I were comforting each other, making “what if” scenarios for the veeeery distant future, like “hey, don’t you guys have the Berlinale...? What if Stellan attended the festival for one of his new films...? Just an idea.”

Not long after that, Google alerts notified me on “Hope”, Stellan’s new film, having its European premiere there. Talking of getting my wish granted right away, I mean I had talked to talk, now I had to walk the walk, right? I’ve never taken such a big decision on such short notice - super scary, super urgent.

“Soooooo is Stellan coming?” was the obvious question. There was no way for us to know. We started spamming the Berlinale people with emails until someone pointed at the right direction, the film’s PR agent who said that the cast would be attending the premiere. Then @stellan-pip-69 suggested I should ask Andrea Bræin Hovig herself, Stellan’s co-star in “Hope”. Andrea is a total sweetheart, she answered right away and said that they would indeed be there. I mean, I couldn’t possibly be taking two days off work, spending four days and 500 euro on a whim no matter how much I love Berlin.

However, we had no further info on where exactly Stellan would be. What we did know according to the Berlinale site was the time and place of “Hope”’s press conference and premiere. Thank god for Alyeen, the Valoris fandom’s resident Berliner, who had bought tickets for “Hope”s screening at the box office.

One day before the screening we were making plans and thinking of routes and timetables, and also we gained some experience from Hildur Guðnadóttir’s talk (who is an absolute darling as you can tell from her vids and acceptance speeches).

See, after Hildur’s event we waited for her in the cold rain for about an hour and realized it’s not enough to be there early enough or to know which exit the celeb will use, or to run fast enough to get to them first: we also had to deal with autograph hunters who were bigger, stronger than us, outnumbering us, pushing us aside to get dozens of autographs signed by Hildur. They were pushy and persistent and had control over the situation, over what Hildur signed and for whom. Giving me permission to get that selfie with her. It was almost nightmarish.

After that, and as we dragged our feet back to the subway soaking wet, we were dwelling in despair and uncertainty. There was no way we could fight off guys who were doing this for a living. And what if Stellan had HUNDREDS of fans screaming his name? What if Stellan lost his patience with all those autographs he had to sign, like Hildur lost hers?

However, I got a glimpse of hope while waiting for the metro when I thought... “You know what? We’ve come so far. We’re doing everything right. We even rehearsed our moves, elbowing people and stomping on toes and screaming Stellan’s name as loud as we can to get his attention. We’re even willing to camp outside the fucking press conference hotel. We can’t possibly fail.”

But for all our meticulous planning, I was responsible for an almost-failure because of my delay the following morning. Remember what Stellan said? Never be late. Never ever.

So, although my goal was to be at the press conference almost an hour and a half before, we got there only an hour before. That almost cost us everything.

Alyeen knows her way around Berlin and she knew the hotel had various entrances and exits, not just one. Lo and behold, as we approached it from the side, we noticed the road was closed and alongside the pavement there were bars draped with red and yellow Berlinale banners, with small groups of people hanging from them like ripe fruit. As we kept walking, I noticed a spot close to the hotel’s exit where it was getting a bit more crowded, so I peered across the street to see which celeb had attracted their attention and--

-- f-uuuck.

When you see Stellan Skarsgard’s head for the first time in your life hovering over a bunch of fans who are shoving things to sign in his face , there’s only one thing to do.

RUN, MOTHERFUCKER.

That’s all I could whisper to Alyeen1 in utter panic.

“--run. Run! Ruuuuuuuuuuun.”

I’ve never left a friend behind so quickly.

So we ran like hell.

We got behind the crowd and I tried to pull my cellphone out but it was too late, Stellan was already thanking the fans and disappearing into the building. If only I wasn’t late that morning!

Years of stress and running and being late have taught me to take a deep breath, give myself a second chance and try to find peace in the eye of the tornado, so I pulled out of the bag a piece of cardboard Alyeen had given me to draw “Hope”s poster with a sharpie. That would calm me down a bit and the wait wouldn’t be so unbearable. Besides we were front row and there was no one between us and the hotel exit, although we still didn’t know which side of the corridor Stellan would pick first, left or right?..

So here’s my reasoning behind the drawing: the previous evening I had wasted my sleep trying to figure out how Tom Hiddleston’s fans were able to stalk him in filming locations (you see, Tom has a wide network of fans reporting on his every move, Stellan doesn’t). Also I wanted to see how his fans got front row on the red carpet and how they got his attention, how they made him do things like kneel for them. I noticed that in order to do that you had to 1) be a flashy cosplayer who catches the eye 2) nag Tom persistently with a voice that’s higher than your usual tone until Tom indulges you. It has to work, right? Like a baby crying for food.

But I’m no cosplayer, I’m an artist, so the idea was to hang a big-ass drawing of mine in front of the barrier to get the attention.

Turns out... I didn’t even need it.

After waiting for about an hour and a half and worrying that Stellan had already left through another exit, after watching the door open and close half a dozen times and seeing busy celebrities rushing off without signing a single autograph, we were on the brink of despair.

Until the door opened one more time and

Stellan was there.

I don’t remember what we did or what we said, all I remember is that we called his name and dammit, that did get his attention. So we were the first he approached. Fuck.

As soon as he heard us calling him he gave us a broad welcoming smile and was ready for the selfies - but guess what! I had forgotten to turn off the fucking timer, so Stellan moved on before the pic was taken.

God no. Not now.

As he was taking a pic with Alyeen I begged him to come back for another try. He said he was too busy and had other fans waiting for him, there were too many of us, but I begged for like 2-3 seconds (a lesson I learned from that Loki cosplayer) so he came back and indulged me one more time. X__X

After that I was dead inside, not only because I had to beg (I don’t do begging) but also because I had to be a burden to Stellan Skarsgard himself. Like, give me what I want but please kill me afterwards, okay?

So yeah. Dead inside.

This is why I couldn’t relish the triumph right away, and to Alyeen’s enthusiastic “We did it, we DID IT!!!” my response was a numb “... Did we...?” >__>;

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Inevitably, I had my stress attack after I got what I wanted. Also, I was just realizing that my stupid ancient phone couldn’t use the data I paid for before flying to Berlin so I had to desperately look for free wi fi and post the selfie before... someone stole my cellphone or something.

For all the mishaps, we got to the red carpet so early that there were very few people waiting before us. Lucky for us 1) this is Berlin, not L.A., where people flock from all over the U.S. to take selfies with celebs they don’t even care for 2) this is Berlin, in February, so it was freezing cold and not many people were willing to freeze their asses off at the red carpet 3) this is Berlin, and crazy screaming fans are scarce. Unless you’re Johnny Depp but thank god Stellan is not Johnny Depp.

Andrea was the first to walk the red carpet and I was really bewildered by the fact that no one was screaming her name. So I called her. And she came! I thanked her for answering my PM and asked for a selfie (I must admit I take better selfies with women than with men).

She was so sweet with me that I actually gave myself time to think and pull the cardboard sketch out of my bag to show her. I was like, whatever, you have it there, just show her.

She was so excited that she pulled out her phone and took a pic of my sketch. *___* Crazy, right? I went to Berlin to find a king and found a queen instead.

The rest was like playing out a script. A couple of minutes later, Stellan came out of the car and started signing autographs and taking pictures so I had my second chance at a better selfie. Phew.

So nice of him, so so nice of him.

And oh, look at us lol.

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A post shared by Stellan Skarsgård Fan Acc (@stellanskarsgarddd) on Feb 24, 2020 at 11:32am PST

After the red carpet we could finally breathe. To my surprise, we even had access to the photo call itself in the Zoo Palast lobby.

Stellan was being playful with the photographers, knowing it was his job to pose but also being “whatever” about it, having done it a million times. He gave them one last pose going “Hey hey heyyyy!” and disappeared behind the blue panel until we saw all of them again after the end credits.

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The only thing I kinda regret is the fact that Megan was right there, right there, a few meters away from me as her husband was being photographed, but I didn’t dare ask for a selfie because the seats weren’t numbered and we had to rush into the theatre to find a good place. Damn.

Until next time, I guess. Because there will be a next time, dear comrades. And hopefully Alyeen1 and I won’t be alone.

#stellan skarsgard #Andrea Bræin Hovig #hope #berlinale 2020 #berlinale #zoo palast #premiere #photo call #red carpet #fan encounter #berlin #press conference #hildur guðnadóttir #hildur gudnadottir

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once-upon-an-animation · 4 years

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Frozen II (Spoilery) Review

So I went and saw Frozen in theatres last night, and... I like it, but I was somewhat disappointed. Not sure if that was because I spoiled most of the movie for myself already before going in, but then again, most of the stuff I was disappointed with was writing issues as opposed to feeling underwhelmed, so meh. Here goes:

The Good:

- I actually really like most of the sound track. AIF, STNC, ITU, & SY were instant faves and are on repeat. TNRT isn’t really a fun song to listen to, but the lyrics are pretty powerful.

- The premise of F2. One of my complaints about F1 was the lack of lore and explanation for any of the magic. I’m glad that this film took an origin-story approach, and dove deeper into the world of magic in Arendelle. Much-needed.

- The outfits. Elsa’s new fit at the end of the movie was absolutely gorgeous, and I really like her with her hair down. Anna’s travelling outfit (with the cape) is my favourite, and I think I’m the only one who really likes her coronation dress (at least the colours anyway). But I think I do prefer some of her coronation dress concepts from The Art of Frozen:

- Matthias is a treasure. Enough said.

- Olaf’s death scene. Wow.

- Iduna’s lullaby being a theme for the movie was awesome. It’s somewhat haunting, but also inviting.

- The animation was stunning. The color scheme for the movie worked really nicely, and Show Yourself was easily one of the prettiest animation scenes I’ve scene in a while. Especially when Ahtohallan revealed the memories in a drop of snow; absoluting breathtaking.

- For all the bitching that everyone did prior to the film, the separation wasn’t even that bad. Everyone seemed pretty chill about the whole thing, and no one looked like they were heart broken. Y’all definitely stressed yourselves out for nothing.

The Bad:

- F2 had this weird thing going on where there was no real plot, but also, a lot was happening in every scene. I think Jen and the rest of the team overextended themselves with the backstory of Arendelle, Northuldra, the spirits, Iduna, Agnarr, Elsa, Ahtohallan, character arcs, etc. so everything felt so convoluted. They could have definitely simplified some things so it was easier to follow, tied certain aspects together, or at least get rid of the B-plots so the main story could get more attention.

- Because of how much they had to cram in, the pacing was far too quick. They were skipping important transitions and jumping from scene to scene, and they didn’t allow enough time for some of the events and dialogue to flesh themselves out and settle into the story. Slow-down scenes are very important for a movie to feel like comfortable and evenly-paced, and F2 not only didn’t have enough of those, but when they did, they rushed through it and moved on to a new idea too quickly. It was like they were desperate to keep spoon-feeding us information.

- Speaking of spoon-feeding info, waaaaaay too much of the dialogue was expositional. Most of the interactions only served to explain what was happening either to the audience or to other characters, and they didn’t feel like the natural and relaxed dialogues that were present in F1. The writing team really disobeyed the “show, don’t tell” rule in this movie, and it was very apparent.

- One of my biggest complaints about F1 was Elsa’s lack of personality outside of her magic (and Elsa feeling more like a plot device), and it looks like the writers didn’t bother to fix that in F2. While I understand that depression and anxiety can be that overwhelming, it doesn’t work for Elsa as a fictional character to not have any shining aspects of her character outside of the issues she has with her magic. Is she funny? Is she sarcastic? What does she like to talk about on a regular basis? Is she really passionate about art or music? Does she practice an instrument or draw in her spare time? What does she like to crack jokes about? Who are her friends and what do they do when they hang out? It seems like Elsa’s magic defines every aspect of her and I don’t like that. She needs to have stronger characterization. I feel like no one at Disney really knows how to write her as a complex, dynamic, and fluid person outside of her powers.

- Everybody’s character arc sucked and/or didn’t exist. Almost no one grew fundamentally, and if they did, their arc was written so poorly and better resembled a scatter-plot. Elsa started and ended the movie acting the same way. There’s no significant difference in her personality or the way she interacts with anyone or her view on the world. Olaf....???? His “some things change” arc was just weird all around. Anna did grow as far as her constantly trying to watch over Elsa, but her queenship should have had an arc too. While I like Anna as queen, it felt random, and really lacked build-up and foreshadowing. It also didn’t help that the scene where she and Elsa talked about making her queen didn’t exist. Again, skipping important transitions. And Kristoff...oh sweet Kristoff...

- I don’t ship Kristanna, but I’m not anti-Kristanna or anti-Kristoff either. I don’t mind their relationship at all. But this proposal plot was not it. Not only was it incredibly poor timing, but why did the writers think that was the best they could do with Kristoff? You have a reindeer ice man going from living in a mountain to being a part of the royal family, and proposing was the best challenge you could think of? How about the ups and downs of adjusting to royal life? Where is my Kristoff feeling out of place in the family because he’s awkward at balls, uncomfortable in stuffy clothing, getting nervous about greeting royal dignitaries, wanting to give commands to soldiers but not sure if it’s his place, wanting to contribute more to Arendelle but not knowing what to do, feeling like he’s not a good fit? Where is his sense of growth as he realizes that he doesn’t have to change who he is at heart to fit in to the royal family, and that he does have a place in Arendelle and in Anna’s life? Where is his growth in getting comfortable with royal life? This was such an easy option, come on!

- Lost in the Woods is a good stand alone song, but it should have been written differently for the film. It really kills the mood of the film and doesn’t vibe with the setting, and while the animation is hilarious, it also makes Kristoff look kind of silly. I loathe the Lopezes for always opting for poppy/rock showtunes, and not writing melodies and instrumentals that actually work for Frozen’s time setting. I don’t think they understand how much some of their songs really draw people out of the film. When I’m Older is also a pointless song. You can tell that its only in there for shits and giggles so Olaf would have something to sing.They should have had him sing while he was dying or something.

- Not enough of the supporting characters. What’s the point of adding Matthias or a whole tribe with Yelana, Honeymaren, and Ryder if you’re not going to do anything with them fundamentally?

- Not enough Agnarr and Iduna. I actually found Iduna’s arc to be far more interesting than any of the main characters, and yet, they didn’t give enough screen time for her backstory. Ughhhhhhh.

- Too many callbacks to F1. Some of them were cute, but the rest were super corny, completely unnecessary, and just a nod to the fandom. If you’re going to do a callback, it’s best done in a way that’s actually relevant to the story.

- I would mind the separation even less if Elsa’s reason for staying in the forest wasn’t soooooo unclear. Why did she need to stay? Who assigned her the role of protector? What is she protecting against? Who currently cares about threatening the spirits?

- Arendelle should have gotten destroyed period. Not only is Elsa conveniently getting unfrozen, saved by the Nokk, and arriving at Arendelle all in time to stop the flood with an ice wall so incredibly predictable and cliche, but it would have also fit into the “some things do change” theme that they kept literally stating. Also, Kristoff likely being good with carpentry could have really shined here in helping Arendellians rebuild, and if he had the arc I explained before, then this would have been his moment of finding his place. Genius, isn’t it?

- With all the lore they added, they still didn’t explain the trolls OR Kristoff’s backstory. What is their place in this story? How come Grand Pabbie knew nothing of the spirits or the dam story, or the Northuldra? Where the heck is Kristoff from? How come Runeard never tried to destroy the trolls?

- Iduna just said “Anna who?” huh? No acknowledgement for her other daughter whatsoever.

- This movie felt more like an expansion than a necessary story.

- Okay, I’m done.

#frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #frozen 2 review #frozen2spoilers #anna #elsa #olaf #kristoff

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dammit-stark · 4 years

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i am OBSESSED with royalty aus

fun fact: red, white & royal blue by Casey mcquiston is actually my favorite book (tied with Emma by Jane Austen, obviously) but anyway this was heavily inspired by the plot of that book so I hope you like it! - p.s this turned out to be like 1.8k words soooooo here it exists now okay

DROP YOUR FAV AU IN MY ASK BOX (OR JUST ANY IDEA IDC) AND ILL WRITE IT FOR YOU :)

...

“We’re supposed to hate each other,” Tony insists, head hanging off the side of his bed, his feet cushioned in the onslaught of pillows by the head board. Nat sits criss-cross applesauce in his peripheral vision, flipping through a magazine, “It’s not my fault he’s a pompous ass and we’re star-crossed nemeses.”

Nat stops flipping to look at him under an arched eyebrow, “Star-crossed, Tony? Really?”

“Oh, shush, you know what I am. We’re total opposites. My dad got elected by the people into the greatest country in the world, and he was born into the crappy inbred monarchy whose ass we beat centuries ago.”

Nat doesn’t look up from her magazine this time, “Didn’t your dad fund his campaign with the millions of dollars he got from his inheritance?”

Tony pauses. In the silence, he can hear the blood rushing to his head. He chooses to ignore Nat’s logic, “I really don’t think that’s relevant here.”

Nat gets to the last page and the flimsy pages clap noisily together. She points an accusatory finger at him, “I don’t care if you think he’s the Loch Ness monster, it’s a royal wedding and you’re the first son of the United States. You’re gonna have to suck it up and be on your best behavior.”

“Oh, no, Nat,” Tony coos sardonically, still hanging upside down, “Are you afraid I’m gonna embarrass you?”

With a complete straight face, she throws her magazine at him, and stands so she’s towering above him. He has to stretch his neck to look at her.

“Yes, she says. I absolutely am. Now, what do you want on your pizza? I’m hungry.”

As it turns out, Tony isn’t humanly capable of staying on his best behavior at the royal wedding. He definitely embarrasses Nat, and maybe, sorta, totally causes an international incident in the process.

“It’s not my fault,” He tells Nat on the jet back to the States, still hanging somewhere in the precarious limbo between disastrously drunk and world-endings hungover, “He started it.”

Nat just glares at him, “I was standing right there, Tony. I watched you push him first.”

“I-“ There’s not much point in arguing, “Yeah. Dad’s gonna be pissed, isn’t he?”

Nat sighs, a long, never-ending sigh that makes her sound decades older than she actually is. Tony has that effect on people.

“Don’t worry about your dad, Tony,” She tells him. This time, she’s flipping through a classified file folder instead of a dime-a-dozen tabloid edition, “We’re gonna fix your mess, as per usual.”

Tony can feel the hangover rearing it’s head over the drunkenness, and he sinks into his chair, eyes closing, “You’re the best, Nat. Thanks.”

Nat rolls her eyes as Tony falls asleep, “Yeah,” She murmurs under her breath to herself, “Damn right I am. Dumbass.”

It turns out that Nat’s solution to Tony’s antagonistic little international incident is to make it seem like the whole The-First-Son-Just-Pushed-A-Beloved-Prince-Into-His-Brother’s-Wedding-Cake thing seem more like a frat boy-esque ribbing gone bad. Tony hates the plan, and he tells Nat as such.

“This is a horrible plan. It’s not gonna work, and it means I have to spend an entire weekend with Prince Pissy Pants.”

They’re on the private plane again, flying back to England to fix Tony’s mess.

Nat rolls her eyes, and punches him in the shoulder, “Get over yourself, Stark. If you don’t want to hang out with your so-called nemesis, then stop getting drunk and pushing people into wedding cakes. This is your own fault. We’re fixing your problem for you. Get over it.”

Tony rolls his eyes, but otherwise consents, “Whatever.”

Nat passes him a file folder.

“What’s this?”

“The Prince’s interests. Study it. Learn it like it’s the back of your hand, and then study it even more. If you get caught in a lie, Stark, you’re beyond dead.”

He gets two lines in before he tears narrowed eyes away from the paper to suspiciously meet Nat’s expression, “Did he get one of these about me?”

“Yep.”

“What was in it?”

“Your interests, Stark.”

Tony does not envy whoever got assigned that task. He wonders how accurate it’ll be. He obediently reads through the Prince’s interests among an uncharacteristic silence. Nat almost thinks he’s grown up until he breaks said silence with a snort.

“His favorite book is Great Expectations? Nerd.”

When they land, Tony remembers why he pushed the prince in the first place. Yeah, the alcohol did half the work for him, but- something about the Prince’s stupidly perfect, absurdly handsome face just makes Tony want to start shoving people into cakes. Surely other people have the same urge.

“Mr Stark,” The Prince says as greeting. He doesn’t even offer a hand for Tony to shake, just smiles with his hands folded together, “It’s a shame these are the circumstances that you-“

“Yeah, yeah, you’re very polite, I get it. Prince Steve here to save the day with his antiquated, impeccable manners. Yippee-kiy-yai.”

Tony counts it as a win that he sees a flicker in that smile, but it crests back to sparkly perfection with a blink of the eye. There are cameras. Tony sees Nat out of the corner of his eye, glaring beside a distinct row of security, somehow looking the most intimidating of all of them. He smiles back, pasted and ridiculous and spiteful, his whole body tensed and relaxed at the same time.

He smiles winningly for the cameras.

Later, at the hospital, Tony wonders how Mr Prince Perfect can put on such a facade, even with sick kids. Because that’s obviously what this is. He watches from across the room as Prince Steven kneels beside a sick kid’s bedside, smiling kindly, and talking to the little girl with her baby yoda doll tucked into the crook of her arm.

It’s not until Tony has completely committed to his eavesdropping that he realizes there aren’t any cameras around to capture Steve’s amiability. That’s the first moment Tony thinks oh, maybe this guy isn’t as fake as I thought he was.

“You totally wouldn’t be Han Solo,” Tony interrupts because he’s totally an asshole and he knows it (that’s the different between Tony and Prince Stick-Up-Butt, he at least owns his assholery), “You’re a textbook Luke Skywalker if I ever met one, Prince.”

Steve’s responding grin is surprisingly left-leaning, and the kid in the hospital bed is giggling.

“Are you gonna try to tell me that you’re a Han Solo then?”

“Actually, I-“

“Because you’re not,” Steve’s totally serious except a slight twinkle in his eye, one forefinger tapping against his own knee as the little girl sits enraptured by the ridiculous conversation occurring just above her, “You’re Anakin through and through. Not in a bad way, just-“

Tony doesn’t mean to come off as truly surprised as he really does, but the way he shuts his mouth immediately gives him away, “No,” He says, “You’re right.”

Steve’s lips punch off at the corners in an amused, vaguely self-satisfied way that makes Tony want to soberly push him into another cake so expensive you need to take out a mortgage to eat a slice. Before Tony can needle him back, the prince is smiling back at the kid, a gentle hand on her arm. Huh.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Wendy. Thanks for talking about Star Wars with us.”

And like the smug bastard he is, Steve gracefully stands from her bedside and leaves the room. Oh no he won’t. Tony follows, angrily.

That’s how they end up in a near-empty hospital hallway together. And subsequently, it’s also how they’re pushed into the closest nearby maintenance closet by the nearest secret service operative, tripping over themselves and invisible equipment alike as they’re safely hidden away. It’s also how they end up on the floor, joints every which way, elbows menacing and in all the wrong places as they cajole violently among the brooms and buckets.

“Your elbow-“ Tony grunts, “Is in my side, Steve.”

“Yes, well, my elbow wouldn’t be in your side if your elbow wasn't in my shoulder.”

“Get your shoulder out of my elbow!”

“Why do you hate me?” Steve cuts him off, a hiss in his voice. Ooh, Mr Perfect Prince can actually get angry. Exciting.

Tony takes a deep breath. Or- as deep of a breath as he can take without drawing attention to their tight little maintenance closet/hideout.

“You’re not real. You’re fake. Everything you do has been trained into you, it’s annoying.”

“I feel pretty real to me, Stark.”

“You just- it’s a persona. You’re a persona. And the whole world blindly loves you for it.”

In the dark, Tony chews on his bottom lip- a chronic bad habit of his.

When Steve responds, his voice is low, even lower than it necessarily needs to be to keep attention away from their location. He can’t tell in the dark, but Tony thinks his head might be bowed. He can practically hear the thoughts in the prince’s head. But then again, they’re physically close enough, practically spooning ridiculously on the ground, he might as well tap directly into Steve’s mind they’re so close together.

“Do you think I want to be a persona, Tony? Do you think I did this to myself? I’m still me, I’m just- guarded. It’s not up to me. There’s a lot more to the world than my place in it.”

Tony’s quiet. It’s a much more real answer than he’d expected. He’d half expected the prince to spit on him or something, dig his elbow extra far into Tony’s side or something. Instead he gets this vulnerable little morsels of honesty, and Tony has nothing to say.

“I-“

Tony’s cut off by blinding light. Nat whips the door open.

“Ew, what are you guys doing on the ground? Why are you spooning?”

Steve hurried to his feet, cheeks visibly red, “The threat?” He demands, and Tony’s surprised Nat doesn’t demand a full sentence like she usually does, the cocky bastard. She nods succinctly.

“A false alarm. However, we’ve deemed it safest to move onto the next event.”

“Great, thanks,” The Prince says, and moves off down the hall, disappearing behind twin EXIT doors.

Tony’s still on the ground when Nat swivels back to look at him, a smug smile on her face.

“You hate each other, huh? Is that what you’re calling it nowadays?”

Tony rolls his eyes, “Oh, shut up, asshole, and help me.”

But he hadn’t had to tell himself deflect, deflect, deflect, and he’s pretty sure something about being stuck in a children’s hospital maintenance closet changed his feelings on the guy. Something about it.

As Tony walks to his next event, he has to push to keep the prince out of his idle mind.

When he departs for the United States hours later, Tony leaves the prince with his phone numbers.

“To corroborate our stories or whatever,” He tells Prince Steven, though he’s sure Nat isn’t convinced, “So we don’t have to keep going between these losers.”

Prince Steven accepts the offering with a smile, and Tony gets on the plane, leaving Britain behind him one last time.

#royalty au #drabble #stevetony #rwarb au #I hope this makes sense even if you haven’t read the book #I’ve been meaning to write this for 6+ months so it was awesome to finally do it heh

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self-shipper-snowdrop · 4 years

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I wanted to take a break from analysis writing and draw (dw I’m still doing those) and I ended up designing like. A whole character for Twisted Wonderland, soooooo please accept this New Babe I made this afternoon while I had no internet XD also please forgive any mistakes I did this very fast before I lost my idea-

Also if you don’t wanna hear my babbling be sure to filter the “Silently’s OCs” tag!

This is Lumi Rhewilf! (That last name is still in development, it’s just. Welsh for glacier) As you can see, she is in Pomefiore, and a third year student- Class 3-C, student no. 18. She is an member of the fae, specfically ice fairy from the Valley of Thorns! (same place the Diasomnia members hail from). She’s based off Ahtohallan, the glacier or “river of memory” from Frozen 2. She has a beautiful singing voice, a very reliable, clear memory and she excels at alchemy. Lumi also is an albino, which is why she has white hair and pale blue eyes, so she knows a great deal about skincare and products for protecting one’s skin. In the Valley of Thorns, Lumi also has a pet horse, named Llyr :D

Her unique magic is called “River of Memory” and allows Lumi to ‘replay’ memories by creating figures of ice to recreate the scene. Said memories can be static or in motion, and in order to ‘replay’ a memory Lumi must touch either the site where a memory took place or the person who holds that memory. She also has to have some idea what she’s looking for, of course. When in overblot, this spell takes on a more powerful form where Lumi indiscriminately plays the worst memories of everyone around her. The manifestation of her blot appears like Iduna (Elsa’s mother) from Frozen, but made out of ice, to represent Ahtohallan (as, spoilers for Frozen 2, Iduna’s spirit is basically inside Ahtohallan calling out to Elsa so that’s why the ice figure looks like Iduna)

Honestly I put her in Pomefiore because she just… kinda gave me the vibe XD and I didn’t feel like rushing the creation of my Frozen-inspired dormitory. (although a version of Lumi from there will inevitably exist later)

Anyway thanks for reading my character blurb, I just love my new bean already and wanted to share! I think she turned out quite pretty ♥︎

#from daydreams to text #the dreamer’s polariods #long post #just in case!#also this is fully okay to rb if you want #I’m just babbling at like 10pm rip XD #snowdrop’s ocs #snowdrop’s ocs; lumi rhewilf

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irwinkitten · 5 years

Text

trouble | c.h

notes: soooooo there was a conversation in writersos gc and ya gal got lowkey inspired and wrote a small snippet and nearly murdered the entire chat. sO with that in mind, this was born and i’m not even sorry. warnings: smut lmao word count: 4k!

---

It felt like her day was never going to end.

By the time her shift had finished, she knew that the evening was going to take its toll on her. Knowing that the next day needed to be a stress free as possible, she knew that she was going to be planning her outfit and getting everything ready for the Calum's work party.

Part of her was proud of the organisation. More often than not, she left it last minute and was often found scrambling to get her stuff together. But Calum had pleaded with her, eyes wide and peppered kisses across her cheek and jaw.

She couldn't say no.

Before she could even sit down once she was through her doors, she headed upstairs to here her dress was. She'd hidden it from Calum, begging with him to let it be a surprise for him to enjoy and in turn, he'd agreed and had given in, allowing her to keep her dress a secret.

It hadn't taken much to double check that there was nothing wrong with the dress. She still couldn't believe that she had it. Calum had handed her his card and almost begged her to let him spoil her. And part of her hoped that the dress would be put to use again, so with that in mind, she'd taken his card and made the purchase.

Part of her still felt guilty, but Calum had quietened her worries and promised that there would be no big gifts from him if that made her uncomfortable.

He knew the anxiety that surrounded her when it came to money, knowing that she budgeted for everything that she did in her life, including going out with Calum and his friends.

The evening was spent relaxing in the bath, glass of wine and a soft playlist going. She exchanged a few texts with Calum, but she knew that he was doing his own last minute prep for the next day, so she didn't try to demand his attention.

It was an early night for her, everything entirely relaxed. It hadn't been often she could feel this relaxed, and often, the only way she got this kind of relaxation was when she was wrapped around Calum. Not that he minded, or at least, he never indicated otherwise, but it was nice to be able to relax without another warm body next to her.

The next morning, her phone had exploded in notifications.

The first set of notifications had confused her. Her friends had sent texts, asking if Calum was okay. Then she saw the instagram notification and she clicked it, her eyes studying the newest photo he'd posted.

"What the fuck Cal." She murmured to herself as she studied the photo, her lips curving into a small grin at the boomerang.

'Looking handsome there.' She couldn't resist the comment on the photo, a laugh escaping as his name popped up in her messages.

'Always handsome for you, angel. You like? Figured I'd try something new for the event tonight.'

As she began to type out her reply, she deleted it as an idea crossed her mind.

Switching to her camera, clicking the video option, she hit the record button and quietly climbed out of bed, making her way to where she'd lain her underwear out the previous night.

Her fingers trailed over the satin bra, a soft giggle escaping knowing how much he loved seeing her in that bra. Taking the matching pants that were with it, she moved over to her underwear drawers, putting the item back into the draw.

"That's how much I like it, baby. See you later." She clicked stop and sent the video to him.

His reply came through within minutes.

'You're in so much trouble later, sweetheart.'

That one sentence sent the butterflies off in her stomach. She wouldn't back down on this and he knew it. And it was partly why she enjoyed this game.

'Am I really in trouble or are you just pouting because you can't get off yet?' She knew it was a risky text to send him. It was certainly set the tone of the night.

His reply was instant.

'Trust me princess, you're in big trouble. See you later, love.' A delicious shiver went down her spine in excitement at the prospect of the rest of the evening and then realised that her mind was running away with fantasies of her boyfriend.

"Fuck."

—

The day seemed torturously slow for both of them.

She’d sent him photos of her process, knowing that teasing him like so would only mean payback later, but it was payback she wanted him to dish out.

And he knew this.

When he finally arrived to pick her up, the company having provided cars for the evening, he was lost for words when she descended the stairs after he’d called up to her.

His throat had grown dry as he watched her, the coy smirk sending unbidden fantasies rushing through his mind as she finally reached him. Her hand gently traced his jaw before she pushed it up, closing his lips that he hasn’t realised had fallen open.

“It’s not often I can leave you that speechless.” She murmured and he chuckled, breathless and amazed.

“You look stunning.” He finally got out and her fingers moved to his hair, her fingers running through the short strands.

“Nothing compared to how you look tonight, handsome. We mere mortals should recognise when we’re blessed with the presence of a god.” The tease was light, making his lips curve into a smile.

“Aphrodite has nothing on your beauty.” Was all he could come back with, making her giggle as her lips finally met his.

“We have a party to attend my good sir, how about we get going?” He grinned, offering his arm out to her and she took it.

It was only in the car did he appreciate the dress, the slit in it running up to her mid thigh and he had to stop his fingers from wandering like he so desperately wanted. He knew there was nothing underneath, knowing that she would keep to that promise of leaving that underwear piece in the draws.

But he knew his restraint wouldn’t last the night. And she was playing on that.

He held back a groan. She would be the death of him, he was certain.

When the car reached the event, of course there would be journalists, photographers and a red carpet. He could see the other three with their dates and held back a sigh.

“You’ve got work to do, stop being so miserable. You get me for the rest of the night.” It was like she’d read his mind, and the smirk she wore told him no different.

He exited the car first, holding his hand out to her, helping her out from his side and she flashed him and appreciative smile as flashes began to go off, his name being called over and over.

Ignoring the yells of his name, his arm slid around her, hand resting on her lower back as they headed to where the others were waiting.

“Good you’re all here.” The runner eyed each of the boys speculatively.

“How are we going to do this?” Calum finally prompted, irked by the lingering eyes. It was like it’d been forgotten they each had dates.

“Right, yes.” The runner flushed in embarrassment. “It’ll be group shots first and then your dates can join you. Luke then Michael, then Ashton and finally Calum.” Calum’s eyes met Ashton’s who rolled his own and Calum tried not to smirk at his friends annoyance.

They moved forward for the group shots, briefly blinded by the camera flashes and their names being called out.

It was easy for him to block it out.

When he finally pulled away with Michael and Ashton, watching as Sierra made her way over to Luke, his arms moved around her, lips pressing to her cheek in a soft moment.

“You can skip on this part if you want.” His words were whispered and she turned to face him, a grin on her lips.

“I think I’m going to allow myself to be a little bit petty tonight and outshine you in those photos tomorrow.” He could see her nerves, the way her teeth caught the corner of her lips.

Lifting his hand, he brushed his thumb over, pulling the skin free from her teeth.

“You outshine me six ways to Sunday, love. One of those talents being restricted to the bedroom, but they don’t need to know that.” Her body relaxed and he was grinning at the pout she wore.

“Only one? I mean, I can never compare to you eating me out, but I have more than one talent in the bedroom.” She barely moved her lips, voice quiet and Calum laughed as his lips moved to her ear.

“Trust me sweetheart, I know you do. But like I said, they don’t need to know that, or know how you like to play with fire,” his hand slid over the curve of her ass, “or how you enjoy potentially being caught.”

The softest moan escaped her, and had he not been so close, he would’ve missed it.

“You can’t leave a girl hanging, Hood.”

“Trust me baby, you’re going to be desperate when we get back into that car.”

His name was finally called and he had to think of something other than her, beneath or above him. He did not need journalists being vulgar about his hard on or those kind of photos floating around, making people aware of what he did within his relationship.

He stepped forward with her, keeping his face neutral until she quietly asked him for one photo with a smile. His gaze turned down to her and she met it evenly, and he couldn’t stop his lips from curving upwards.

Her lips matched his, and the shouting increased as he dipped his head, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

“Anything for you, love.”

—

She knew that he was keeping a tight hold of his control and will power, especially with his hand resting so high up, the slit on the dress at first being a good idea, but now her mind had conjured images which made the idea get moved to great instead of good.

There was one of the executives up on the stage, prattling on about the success of the company, mostly attributed to the success of the artists. But her mind couldn’t hear his words, not when she felt Calum’s fingers slide higher and dipping under the fabric of her dress.

She knew her heart was pounding loudly, and an errant thought crossed her mind, wondering if anyone else could hear the thundering heart that felt like it was trying to claw its way out from her chest.

And then she felt his scruff on her earlobe and cheek, his lips do dangerously close to her ear.

“Not a sound, princess.” Her lips pressed together, a slow inhale and exhale before she forced herself to relax as she tried not to let out a noise as two fingers slid into her.

She tried to laugh at the stupid jokes, the sound disjointed from the group. This earned a few looks from the rest of the band as she took a swig of water.

“You alright?” Ashton whispered across the table and she forced a smile onto her lips as a thumb was added to her clit.

“Yeah, just a dry throat is all.” He nodded before his eyes returned to the stage and she let out a slow breath of relief as she felt the familiar tightening in her abdomen.

Leaning on his shoulder, making it look like she was simply leaning to kiss his cheek or talk, she let her lips graze his earlobe.

“Please sir, I’m so close.” She had to swallow the whine. He didn’t look at her, but he nodded and she felt her whole body tense before she came, her forehead resting on Calum’s shoulder, lips parted in a soft ‘oh’ sound as he slowly worked her through her orgasm.

Teeth pressing into her bottom lip to stop the noise escaping as he pulled his fingers from her, she watched as ducked his head, as if he were going to tie his shoes up and she could feel that shiver rolling down her spine as he cleaned his fingers.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” She finally grumbled as he sat back up, throwing his arm over the back of her chair.

She shifted closer, allowing her head to rest against his chest and he chuckled quietly.

“The feeling is entirely mutual, sweetheart.” He hummed as they returned their attentions to the stage, watching as the the band was mentioned along with their success.

She watched in mild amusement as they asked the four of them to come up to say a few words and after good natured ribbing from the other artists that were attending, they all trouped up to the stage.

Each of them saying a few words was enough to hold the attention of the audience, and she couldn’t stop her wide grin as Calum spoke, his eyes searching the room before they found her. And as his lips curved up into a smirk around his words, she couldn’t help but think how handsome and powerful he looked up on that stage.

—

Once the speeches were out of the way and people were free to mingle and dance, Calum had kept his arm around her waist, his fingers keeping a firm grip on her hip as he spoke with other artists and executives.

He ignored her hidden looks that she gave him when others attentions were away from him.

It was getting increasingly difficult to keep his attention on the figures that were being rattled off when she pressed herself closer to him, her feather light touches setting his stomach alight with butterflies as he laughed along the others, having missed the joke completely, but didn’t want to be caught out.

“Cal, please.” She finally breathed in his ear and he glanced at the clock before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

“Ten more minutes angel, then we can ditch. And I can promise you that I’m going to get you back.” He watched in amusement as her lips pulled down into a pout, but she didn’t argue with his words.

He did the rounds once more, his eyes watching the clock before making his excuses and ducking from the conversation with various members of the different managers that were apart of the team.

His eyes caught Ashton’s, earning a smirk from the red head. Calum shrugged in return at the smirk before he took his girls hand and the two of them ducked from the room. They headed to where the valet was, both breathless and giggly.

He could feel the exhilaration through his veins as he felt his phone vibrate.

“Hood.” He told the amused personnel who radioed through with his name.

A car pulled up and as his phone began to vibrate a second time, he ushered her into the car, both of them laughing as the car peeled away. He pulled out his phone to see texts from his bandmates and two missed calls from his manager.

He answered the third call.

“Calum, where the fuck have you gone?”

“Not feeling well, heading home.” He responded, feeling her press her face into his chest to muffle her giggles.

“You know you can’t just ditch something-”

“Luke, Ashton and Michael are still there. I stayed long enough that it wouldn’t be considered rude. Now, I’m gonna go be sick.” He hung up the call and the two of them collapsed into giggles, his arm wrapped around her as the car weaved through the late night streets with ease.

“Yours then?” She asked quietly once she recognised the roads.

“Apparently. You’ve got enough stuff at mine so don’t fret.” He smirked at her and she could feel her breath catch.

“Not what I meant, but I’ll take what I can get.” She fired back and he groaned, feeling his earlier thoughts return full force and she noticed almost immediately.

The music suddenly got louder and he vaguely reminded himself to tip the driver as her hand palmed him, his lips by her ear as he let out a soft groan.

“You’re killing me.” He finally got out, his fingers wrapping around her wrist to stop the movements. She grinned at him, the smirk on his lips showing she knew exactly what she was doing.

The car jolted to a stop and Calum wasn’t sure if he was more annoyed or grateful as she slid from her side first. He chucked a couple of bills into the front seat, since the music was still going full blast and he had to adjust himself slightly so he could follow her to his front door.

He pinned her to the door before he unlocked it, his lips on her neck a her fingers scraped along his scalp, a half strangled noise escaping her lips as his fingers slipped through the split in her dress and this time her fingers moved from his hair to his wrist.

“I might enjoy potentially getting caught but you are not doing this in full view of you neighbour, even if they are asleep.” She gasped out and he smirked, fishing his keys from his pocket.

The door opened, and they stumbled in, together, her giggles breathless as she toed off her heels whilst he locked the door.

He switched on the hallway light and under the light, he saw the fresh marks he’d left on her neck, a smirk growing on his lips as he trailed his fingers across the reddened skin, listening as her breathing hitched slightly.

“You’re so beautiful.” He murmured, fingers moving to curve under her chin. Tilting her head back, his lips met hers, and they parted so easily under his touch. Her own hands were wrapped around his waist, her hands having slid under his jacket, scratching gently at his clothed back and he could feel the last vestiges of his will power disappear.

“Upstairs, sweetheart.” He breathed once he pulled his lips away and she took a few steadying breaths before heading upstairs.

—

She knew that he was seeing to Duke, making sure the dog wouldn’t interrupt their time. It had happened once and they’d both lost any interest, especially with her laughter echoing around because the small dog would not let her near Calum.

However over time he lost his possessiveness over Calum and had accepted her eventually. Calum had been amused when they’d once returned home and Duke had greeted her first, ignoring Calum completely.

Leaving the dress on, she sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the footfalls as Calum finally followed her up the stairs. When he pushed the door open, she found most of her thoughts disappearing at the sight of him in his slacks and white button down, the top three buttons undone.

“Look at you, lookin’ all pretty.” He slowly undid his belt, chucking it to the side as she reached out, hooking her fingers through the loops on the trousers.

“Same could be said about you.” She murmured as he bent down, his lips capturing hers briefly.

“Nothing on you, sweet girl.” He got onto his knees, his fingers pushing the dress up with ease. He pressed open mouthed kisses to her thighs as he worked his way up, her fingers running through his hair before switching to his shoulders, her fingers gripping him as he crept closer to where she desperately wanted him.

“Cal please.” The opened mouthed kisses turned into bites and she moaned.

Seconds later, he shifted her legs over his shoulders, his tongue licking up her folds before pushing in, moaning softly which triggered her own moan off her fingers finding purchase on the sheets beneath her as he ate her out.

He switched around a few times, his thumb moving to her clit and she knew she was so close to the edge, her whimpers only increasing as he pulled away, his thumb still circling around.

“Look at you dirty girl, still in your dress and making a mess. Tell me sweetheart, is this what you like? When I have you begging? When you’re so needy?”

“Please, please let me cum.” Her words were breathless and he hummed in assent.

“Cum for me pretty girl, tell me how I make you feel.”

“So good-oh fuck, Cal.” His lips had returned to their previous position and she fell over the edge, her legs trembling as he continued to lick her clean, pulling away when her hips jolted and he chuckled as her fingers moved from the bed to under his chin.

He didn’t expect her to dip her head and lick the remnants off his face before her lips met his and he groaned.

“What do you want, princess?”

“You to fuck me.” Came the bold response and he chuckled against her lips as he pulled away fully, reaching to pull his shirt off.

Once he was on two feet, he unbuttoned his slacks before pushing them down, boxers and all. He helped her stand, spinning her so that her back was pressed against his chest.

His hands rested on her waist for a moment before he allowed them to slide between them, taking ahold of the zipper. As he pulled it down, his lips found her neck and a soft moan escaped as he began to work on the skin available to him until her dress had dropped to the floor.

He wasted no time in unhooking her bra. Any other time, she would’ve been annoyed, but she could feel how hard he was, and she knew that as much as it was his favourite, there was a level of patience and he’d surpassed his.

At first his fingers were on her clit, working her up before he finally spoke.

“Hands and knees, princess.”

She didn’t argue as she got on her on her hands and knees on the bed. He teased only a moment, his cock teasing her folds before pushing into her roughly, earning a loud moan as his pace had her arms shaking. She knew that she wouldn’t last long, and when his fingers slipped around her waist, sliding to her clit as he kept up his pace, she could only moan his name in response.

“Cum on my cock, baby.” She was gone, her arms shaking as he kept his pace. She knew her arms were going to give out, her whimpers loud and echoing as he gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling her up so that her back was against his chest once more.

“Choke me, Cal.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, his fingers wrapping around her throat and the pleasure that was buzzing through her veins increased tenfold as he applied a small amount of pressure, the bite of his rings sending her into overdrive as she felt the tears gather in the corner of her eyes.

“Baby, please.” Her whine was met with his grunts, hips stuttering before he came, her own orgasm following after and she could feel her body sag forward slightly.

His grip shifted almost immediately, his arms wrapping around her body as he pulled out, their bodies falling to the bed.

He pulled her tightly to his body as she let her head rest on his chest, a soft groan escape her.

“If this is what I get for that stunt of putting my underwear back, I need to do it more often.” She finally muttered and Calum could only laugh as he helped her off the bed and helped clean her up.

“C’mon then princess, let’s get ourselves cleaned up and in the morning I’m definitely treating you to breakfast.”

---

tag list: @cals-babylons , @glitterprincelu , @calumspeachy , @wrappedaroundcal , @cosmocalum , @monsteramongmikey , @talkfastfletcher , @hereforlukescruff , @astroashtonio , @catchinqcalum , @5saucewho , @dontstopisagoodsongchangemymind , @therainydays4 , @asht0ns-world , @silverchainbee , @hidd3nfangirl , @doodleasouarus , @empathycth , @mylovehes , @songforhema , @kinglyhood , @youngblood199456 , @makecoffeenotwars , @sunny-sos , @negative-love , @softboycal , @kinglycalum , @you-of-ghost , @meetyoutheremgc , @lmao5sosimagines , @lietoash , @aw-hawkeye , @drummerboy794 , @itjustkindahappenedreally, @mycollectionofnuts, @abitloudforanaccousticset, @boytoynamedcalum , @teampreator , @dukehoods , @dweebluke , @calumculture , @lashtoncurls , @wildhearthood , @gigglyirwin , @blue-skies-are-alright , @hearts-to-the-sky , @tiddlerrr , @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you , @zooniah , @cakeassx-blog , @paqueretteash , @rotten-kandy , @vipclifford , @musiclover1263 , @rosecoloredash , @jpgluke , @cathartichaoss , @5secondssofssummer , @daisy-jen , @balsamichood , @cliffordstxngue , @lukesbellas , @myloverboyash , @cxddlyash , @gabiatthedisco , @rosesfromcth , @gorgeouslygrace , @calumsssparkle , @valentinelrh , @meetashthere , @softforcal , @cakesunflower , @hotmessmichael , @fangirlforever0704 , @caswinchester2000 , @long-termplanwithshort-termfixes , @josierosie , @ashtoniwir , @raabiac , @burncrashbromance , @killerlukesqueen , @angelbabylu , @heartbreak-5sos , @geeksareunique , @singledadharrington , @singt0mecalum , @sugarcoated-pain , @sublimehood , @americanhorrorstudies , @moonchildsblack , @uncrownedqueeen , @softforluke , @lostincalum , @colourfulcalum , @calpops , @5sosnsfw

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dreamingsushi · 4 years

Text

Dance of the Phoenix - Episode 8

I haven’t typed episode 7 yet, but I was busy subtitling episodes so yeah. After a super nice bath, I figured I could treat myself a little more with a sheet mask and a few episodes before going to bed. Costume drams are just so addicting to me and this one is just soooooo beautiful. I just can’t. And I have candle that smells super good soooo yeah! So nice! So happy!

Okay let’s get down to business. Last episode Zuo Qingluan gave suspicious pills to Feng wu and I want to know if she was dumb enough to eat them or not. Hopefully not.

So Zuo Qingluan is teaching Feng Wu swordsmanship but there is no improvement at all. Well Zuo Qingluan probably just wanted to check if she had any spiritual powers left. She leaves after receiving a not. Communication was very convenient back then, notes would always find their way. She tries to summon the colourful phoenix but he won’t come out of the ring. She’s feeling a little down and lies on the beach. Then Jun Linyuan comes and teaches her. He’s so elegant, seriously! Where can I get one me too?

So Zuo Qingluan was called back to the capital by their master to attend some special guest.

Feng Yiran goes to pay a visit to his aunt and brought her gifts as a token of his apology for what happened. She’s rather upset about it and wants him to leave but that annoying guy has something which he wants to discuss with her which is finding a good match for Feng Wu. Qiu Ling happens to hear that and she’s so shook that she drops the medicine she was bringing and runs away. That Feng Yiran is really an annoying dude and ennemies of Feng Wu will definitely take advantage of the fact that he’s so dumb.

Qiu Ling finds Feng Wu after they are done flying on Jun Linyuan’s sword. He’s kind of unwell but the news that Feng Yiran is looking for a husband to marry her makes the two girls leave without poor Jun Linyuan, probably having trouble because of his loveless venom.

Zuo Qingluan asks Feng Liu to assist Jun Linyuan in her stead while she’ll be gone. I hate that girl. She’s so... ugh. Well. At least Zuo Qingluan knows how to use people to her advantage. She tells her to focus on Jun Linyuan, but Feng Liu is still determined to take Feng Wu down. While Feng Wu is arguing with Feng Yiran and making it clear that she won’t get married as he decides, Feng Liu comes out with her whip. She’s definitely ready for a fight. Ugh. I so hate her, she’s a pain... Okay so she callenges her to a fight. If she wins Feng Wu has to give away the Phoenix Chant sword. If she loses, she’ll go back to the capital. Well that’s unfair. FEng Wu has no spiritual powers. Not to doubt her wit, but how could she win?

At the same time, Yu Mingye comes at Jun Linyuan. He shows him the pendant and say he will give it back if he tells him what’s his relationship with Feng Wu. But he won’t. That’s kind of dumb. They don’t have a relationship, what’s the point of hiding it?

So it’s a double fight. Feng Xun wants to help Feng Wu but neither he nor Xuan Yi can interfere with the business of the FEng family. They’ll save her last minute if needed. Yu Mingye asks Jun Linyuan to give him back his pendent and to hand Feng Xiaowu to him. Jun Linyuan figures out Feng Wu told Yu Mingye that he has captured Feng Xiaowu. So he hands back the pendent and leaves. Yu Mingye asks him why is he not fighting anymore and Jun Linyuan tells him he has been tricked again. Both of them now knows that Feng Xiaowu is Feng Wu. When Feng Liu is about to beat FEng Wu, the sword comes to her and her phoenix blood, well her master’s, mark appears on her forehead and she beats the crap out of Feng Liu. Right when Jun Linyuan arrives. Then she faints and everyone rushes to her side.

When Feng Wu wakes up, she hears the trio talking about interrogating her, so she runs away through the window and goes to see Old Ba who finished making the nine transformations spiritual restauration pill so she eats it and the taste is disgusting, as all good medicine are. Just when she’s done eating it, Jun Linyuan is on his way up to Old Ba’s place. While she’s trying to hide, Yu Mingye comes in through the window - he doesn’t like doors as we now know so well. He tries to hit on her but then Jun Linyuan is coming so she hides him behind the furnace. When she says she has no ties to the darknight court, Yu Mingye isn’t happy about it and comes out saying he wish they were working hand in hand but Feng Wu wouldn’t give him the chance of doing that. All of this activates yet once again the loveless venom and Jun Lin yuan summons his sword, drawing lightning from the sky. I feel poor Old Ba’s house will burn into ashes. Beut then Yu Mingye kidnaps Feng Wu. And Jun linyuan has pains again when he takes back control of himself.

Well Feng Wu won’t follow Yu Mingye to the darknight court and on her way home she saves a little boy that was bullied. And that triggers a memory to Yu Mingye and ugh. This character is going to break my heart, I can already feel it. It seems he was raised the harsh way. Poor baby. The ring is starting to act up so she leaves him behind. As soon as she’S alone, she goes into the ring. She tries to wake up her master but he’s still in deep sleep.

Jun Linyuan finds Yu Mingy and asks him where is Feng Wu. Oh wow. Fist fight. None of them wins over the other. Yu Mingye finally tells Jun Linyuan she went back home. Aww. Those two. The so would have been BFF if there were born in the same clan. This is such a shame. They so break my heart. I just know it so bad.

Yu Mingye gets called back by his father.

Feng Wu’s mom promises that Feng Wu will help Jun Linyuan to repay her debt for causing him that much trouble. They organize some event that I don’t really get and during that time she apologize and young master Bi seem to take a liking to her and Feng Yiran notices that. Jun Linyuan seems to see also the looks of young master Bi on Feng Wu and he gives him the killer stare: he’s a possessive lad. Oh so basically they sent notes to the dad of Jun Linyuan to make him happy. Someone even compared him to Liu Bei and he doesn’t who it is. OMG. That’s... OMG. And he’s the big ruler. Wow... So lacking culture. I really like how they plug so many stories characters so far. It makes it more enjoyable to me.

Well there’s not much to say about my expectations for next episodes. Also I’m just moving on with episode 9 right now. A lot happened in this episode. I feel the story is starting to move on. See you in episode 9!

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non-stop-imagines · 5 years

Text

Company (One-Shot)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Black!Reader

Word Count: About 4k

Summary: Steve starts frequenting the diner you work at 2 years after the snap. You give him companionship, he gives you a promise, and that's all you two could ever want.

Warnings: Some cursing, alcohol, kinda angsty but overall cute

A/N: Soooooo... I've been working in this for about 2 and a half weeks and I really do hope that I translated my idea well enough. This is actually my first non-requested one-shot and I'm pretty proud of myself. Hope you guys like it as much as I do. Love you all!💛💖💖💛

UNIVESAL TAGS LIST: @avc212 @beautifulwisdom2001 @iamzion-therealhabesha @cheychey10142 @jetaimeamore @thottio @bamphitrite

Masterlist

_____

"The brooding blonde over there requested you, again." Your coworker Mari smirks. You just smile and shake your head, adjusting the headband that kept the curls from your fro out of your face, picking up the coffee pot behind you.

"Fourth time this week. He's not too bad though." You make your way over to the back corner of the diner where the man was sitting. He seemed to be checking out the menu even though he seems to order the same thing each day. "Nice to see you again. Coffee?" You smile. He nods and you begin to pour.

"Nice to see you too, uh…" He tries to squint to see your name tag.

"Y/N." You hold your hand out, your bright, friendly smile still on your face.

"Steve." He shakes your hand and grins, blue eyes making contact with your deep brown eyes. His facial features seem settled, hardened. Like he's seen things that no one would imagine. His eyes seemed sad, even with the grin on his face.

"Well, Steve, are you ready to order?" You pull the pad and pencil from your apron

"I'll have the oatmeal with bacon." You write down the order.

"Side of blueberries and brown sugar on the side?" You finish writing and look up, grinning.

"I, uh, yeah. How did you know?" He squints at you slightly.

"You've been here for breakfast everyday this week so far and ordered the same exact thing. So a lucky guess, maybe." You shrug. "I'll have that right out for ya." You smile one last time then head back to the counter, placing the order in the window.

"He put so much focus into undressing you with his eyes, I'm surprised you're not naked right now." Mari smirks at the stacked menus in front of her and picks them up to straighten them then pushes a dark, black lock of hair that fell out of he bun behind her ear. You lightly shove her and continue to fill a cup with water.

"He wasn't… He's very sweet." You smile to yourself, grabbing a straw and putting it behind your ear.

"Mhmm, sure. Just go take your mans his water since he's obviously thirsty." You roll your eyes at her then make your way back over to Steve's table.

"Here you go." You set down the cup and the straw. "And your food will be ready shortly." You took this moment to examine the way Steve looked at you. His eyes seemed to slowly roam over your body, admiring your radiant chocolate skin that flowed in the morning sunlight and matched perfectly with your powder blue uniform, but they also seemed to be fighting to stay above the neck. The small grin that seems to never leave his face shows you that he really does just love your presence.

"Alright, uh, thank you." He smiles. You smile back and nod, then head back to the counter.

"Well…" Mari draws out her words as you walk by. You just fix your fro a bit then turn to look at her.

"I don't know what you're looking at, I'm indecent." You wrap your arms around yourself and smirk at her, making you both cackle.

The rest of the morning went as normal, you brought Steve his food, he ate, he thanked you, and your life went on as usual. This went on for a couple of months and during that time you two got closer. He would always tip generously and give you genuine compliments, like noticing that your hair was different, because he could always count on you to keep him company, and because of this Mari would call him your sugar daddy, a nickname you secretly enjoyed, but decided to keep away from Steve.

_____

This week seemed to go the way every other one did until it got to Friday. Steve didn't come in for breakfast and though you wanted to think nothing of it, the situation still bothered you. No, you didn't want to be dependent on his being around every day, but you worried about him. He seemed very lonely and you loved being able to give him company, so the entire day every time someone entered you would quickly switch your gaze to the door to see if it was Steve, but it never was until about 15 minutes before your's and Mari's shift was over. You didn't know though, you were done looking at the door and not seeing him, so when you heard the bell you didn't turn around.

"Hey, you weren't here at your normal time." You hear Mari's voice behind you sounding oddly chipper.

"Yeah. I, uh, had something to do." You hear a deeper voice chuckle, causing something in your brain to prompt you to look back. You're graced by the sight of Steve in a light blue and white plaid button up and dark, almost black, jeans with black dress shoes holding a black bomber jacket.

"Steve…" This was the only word you could muster with the number of different feelings rushing through you at that moment. Anger, relief, and slight desire.

"Y/N, I'm sorry I didn't come and see you this morning. I just had to take care of some things because, I wanted to take you out." Steve flashes you a nervous smile, which you must have given a confused face in response because he continues to explain. "There's a club that I hear is great and I wanted to take you to get drinks and maybe have a dance or two." He shifts on his feet and moves his jacket to his other arm.

"Steve, Mari and I were planning to go out, actually-" You start, pushing the braids from your short braided bob behind your ear.

"Oh, we can go out next week or something." Mari says, giving you her wide mischievous smile.

"But I need to help you clean, and my uniform-" You instinctively smooth down your uniform and widen your eyes at Mari. You really did want to go out with Steve, but you didn't want to be that friend to blow of a friend for a man, but with the face she was making you eventually understood that would not be a problem tonight.

"I can finish and I'll take your uniform home. Did you forget that we live together?" She comes from behind the counter, walks over to you, and places her hands on your shoulders, then begins to push you towards the back.

"Are you sure?" You whisper as you continue to get lightly shoved.

"Of course. He's up here looking good. After you get changed you'll look absolutely sexy." Once you guys do get to the back you turn around to look at her. "Go get your sugar daddy." You chuckle at the silly nickname and give her a tight, quick hug, then go to the back to get changed.

After around 20 minutes, you come out from the back in black skinny jeans, a maroon sleeveless wrap-shirt crop top, and black strappy heels. You applied a bit of eyeshadow, just a shimmery gold to enhance what you already had, and lip gloss that made your lips shine. You adjust your black leather jacket in your arms and smile at the eyes that were on you. Steve stood there stupefied while Mari gave you her signature "Fuck it Up" look. You walk over to Steve and place your arm in his.

"You look amazing." He smiles at you. This time, unlike other smiles, his eyes seem to smile with him. They aren't emitting the sorrow that you are used to, and this delights you.

"Thank you." You continue to look into his eyes, feeling comfortable in his gaze.

"Well kids, don't stay out too late. Have fun, and say no to drugs, unless it's the fun ones." Mari shoos you two out the door, watching as you guys walk into the brisk night air. He walks you to his old, beat-up, blue Bug and opens the door for you. You smile as you climb into the car. He closes the door and makes his way to the driver's side.

"Steve, what's your last name?" You tilt your head at him as he entered the car and put the key in the ignition.

"Rogers, why?" He puts the car in drive and pulls off.

"That's where I know you from!" You slap your thigh and turn back to Steve examining his side profile again. He gives you a momentary confused side glance then turns back to the road. "You're Captain America." You say more in realization to yourself, but making Steve giggle.

"You're just figuring this out?" He chuckles.

"LISTEN," You begin to crack up, making Steve laugh harder. "No, listen. You were just such great company that I didn't care who you were. All this means is that you now don't have to keep an extremely obvious secret from me. So really, I just made your job as my friend ten times easier. You're welcome." You shrug and give him a sassy smirk, making him shake his head and chuckle.

_____

You two have been at this club for about half an hour, sitting at the bar drinking and talking. As you talked, you guys leaned closer and closer to each other, partly due to the volume of the music, but at this point in the conversation the topic has gotten interesting.

"My best friends, actually, both got dusted from the snap. I didn't know what to do. I always feel like I could've done something more…" He shook and lowered his head. The way his voice faded off showed the pain he felt for the situation, so in turn you open your heart a bit more.

"I lost my mom and brother from it. I remember driving home and seeing people… disappear left and right. I just wanted to get home and make sure they were okay, but I came home to nothing, no sound. I stayed up for 24 hours straight at home, waiting for them to come through the door." Your voice cracks and your take a deep breath to keep the tears forming in your eyes from falling. "It's still pretty difficult to accept that they're gone."

Silence filled the somber mood between you two as you both took a sip of the drinks in front of you two. After a moment, your straight face turned into a sad smile with the hope of having Steve follow suit. "How about we order some shots and dance a little? Get our minds off of everything." You raise your hand to get the bartender's attention and order a round of shots.

"That sounds like a good idea." He gives you an equally sad and sympathetic smile. And once the shots come, you guys toast to the night and down the alcohol. After a few more shots you started to feel the effects, giggling at seemingly nothing. Steve enjoyed seeing you happy, especially after witnessing how sad you got talking about your mom and brother. After you two take another shot your eyes brighten when you hear Slow Jamz start playing, immediately standing and grabbing Steve's hand pulling him to the dance floor.

"Come on, let's dance!" You yell over the music, voice still a little loud due to due to your lack of volume control when you're intoxicated. Steve couldn't argue with your proposition and slowly gets up, allowing himself to get dragged to the floor. You guys begin to gently begin to move to the music, getting used to the beat. When the lyrics began you start rapping with them, using exaggerated hand motions, which included poking Steve in the chest a few times. He starts catching into your vibe a bit, he grabs one of your hands and lifts your arm up, watching you sway to the music. You instinctively turn around and press your ass to his groin area, moving it in a circle to the beat as he continued to hold your hand up. He moves with you as you move, he lets go of your hand and carefully places it on your hip, still moving in tune with your movements. This entire sequence makes both of you laugh as you turn back around to face Steve, grasping onto his hands and sensually swaying to the music. Once the song was done you head back to the bar for a couple more shots and then back out to the dance floor for another 40 minutes. At this point it was nearing 1:30 am, and you were two steps past turnt so Steve decided it was time for you two to leave.

_____

After a 40 minute ride that could've been cut down to 20 if your figured out a bit quicker where you wanted to eat, you guys finally arrive to Steve's apartment building. He puts the car in park and turns to look at you, jumping a little when he sees you already staring back, elbow on the middle console, head in your hand.

"How are you not drunk? You did just as many drinks as I did and-and look at you, you drove us all the way h- to your place." You slur your words slightly, waving your hand slightly.

"It's the super soldier part of me. But trust me, it's not as fun as it seems." He reaches for your face and pushes back the short braids that have fallen into your face.

"Another thing," You grasp his hand as it travels near the hand that you rested you head on. "I have wanted you to kiss me this entire night and here I am, kissless." Your eyelids droop as you examined Steve's lips, lightly licking your own as to make sure your not messing up your lip gloss.

"I guess I can fix that for you." He adjusts the grip you had on his hand and gently hooks his fingers onto yours, pulling your hand closer. He leans in and watches as you slowly close your eyes in anticipation, smiling as he goes in for the kiss. It was simple, gentle, just enough for him to show you how much he cared for you without doing too much. He backs away and sees you leaning in slightly in a failed attempt to try to catch another kiss. "Alright, let's get you inside." He gets out of the car and jogs over to your side, opening the door and grabbing your hand to help you out of the car. He leans in and grabs your clutch from the floor then closes the door and holds onto your hand again, now leading you up the steps to his building. He swiftly pulls his keys from his pocket and flips to one key to open the door which lead to a narrow area with a staircase.

"Ughhhh, stairs!" You whine, still holding onto Steve's hand. "Carry me?" You pout, swinging Steve's arm. He just looks at you and rolls his eyes, letting out a small chuckle. He then smoothly reaches underneath your legs and picks you up, adjusting you in his arms slightly, and then proceeds to walk up the one flight of stairs you would have had to walk up to get to his apartment. He sets you down but moves back to holding your hand as he flips to another key to open the door to his apartment. He reaches in and turns on a light then leads you in, dropping his keys on a table by the door.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." He leads you to his room, having to coax you away from getting sidetrack one or twice. His bedroom wasn't a significant size, but it was enough for him to be able to fit a king sized bed in it and have a good amount of room left over.

"Oh but the night is still young!" You exclaim as you move in to wrap your arms around his neck, lustfully examining his face. He places his hands on your waist and leads you to his bed, guiding you to sit. He walks over to his dresser and pulls a pair of sweatpants from a drawer.

"The night is in fact quiet aged and wants to sleep, as you should do too." He walks back to you and hands you the pants. "Here you go. Do you have make-up wipes?" He picks up your clutch from beside you then turns around so you could change.

"Yes, I do, honey. Should be somewhere in there." All Steve hears is russling behind him as you shimmy out of your jeans and pull on the sweatpants as he opens your clutch, quickly skimming through it to find your make-up wipes.

"Are you decent?" He asks, pulling out the pack of wipes and placing the clutch on the nightstand.

"Yep." You pop the p at the end and bounce slightly on the bed. He turns around and smiles at the sight of you in his clothes, then steps closer to begin removing your make-up from your face. You groggily grin up at him as he gently wiped the make-up from your face. "You're so nice. You know that. It's not often that the sexy ones are nice." You smile up at him again, watching as he turns to throw away the wipe then turn back to you.

"Well that's unfortunate." He assists you with his covers as you get under them, shifting around until you get comfortable. "Good?" He asks and you childishly nod. "Alright, I'll be in the living room if you need anything. I'll see you in the morning-" He begins to walk toward the door to the room, but you grasp his hand before he could leave.

"Can you wait 'til I fall asleep? Pretty please?" The words, though childish, were said with partial fear.

"Yeah, of course." Steve walks over to the front corner of his room and grabs the chair that sat there, bringing it over to the side of the bed. He sits and grabs your hand, reveling in the size difference. You just cuddle into the pillow even more, the dopey smile back on your face.

"I miss my family." You say randomly, closing your eyes as you get ready to fall asleep. You couldn't see it, but Steve turned his head towards you, eyebrows slightly furrowed in concern. "My brother was about to graduate high school. Mhmm, got accepted into every college he applied to. Morehouse, Howard, Stanford, some other prestigious white ass school." Steve chuckled at this comment as you continued. "He was very smart. Gonna do big things. He wanted to own a business, already had ideas, actually…" You sniff as tears begin to form. "I miss them, Steve. I really miss them." Steve rushes to wipe the tears that began to fall from your eyes, and gently quieting your sobs with light hushing.

"I know. I know. Get some sleep, okay? Everything will be alright." He gently runs his hand over your braids the presses a kiss on the top of your head. At that moment he pulls away to see that you were already asleep, so he gets up from the chair and turns off the lamp that sat on the nightstand, then makes his way to the door, placing the chair back where it started and exiting the room, closing the door behind him.

_____

You awaken to the faint scent of bacon and pancakes that floated underneath the door to the bedroom you were currently in. You blink your eyes open but keep the squinted to limit the light that entered them. You bring your hand to your forehead as you attempt to remember where you were and how you got there. You fully remember up until the second or third song you and Steve danced to, faintly remember Steve carrying you up to his apartment and the feeling of a makeup wipe moving across your face, but that's all. You reach over to the nightstand that sat next to you and grab your phone, which seemed to have been placed on a charger during the night, to check the time. 9:30. You close your eyes and take one last deep breath before sitting up and turning so your legs hung from the bed. You get up from the bed and slowly shuffle your way to the door, opening it and continue to shuffle to the kitchen, sitting at the small table in there. 40's jazz was lightly playing from the CD player in the living room as Steve continued to work with the bacon. He turns his head back slightly to see you at the table.

"Morning." He moves away from the stove for a moment to get you some coffee, a glass of water, and 2 aspirin. "Breakfast should be ready in a moment." He walks back over to the stove and removed the bacon from the pan and the pancakes from the griddle that sat next to it, buttering them as he places them on the stack on the plate that sat on the counter. He was wearing a tight grey dri-fit type shirt and blue plaid pajama pants, the shirt forming to his back muscles that flexed as buttered.

"Wait, you can cook? You literally came to the diner every morning for the past two months, for breakfast..." Your suspicious gaze followed him as he carried the plates with the pancakes and bacon to the table placing them in the middle.

"Well, it definitely wasn't for the food." He walks back over to the cabinet to grab two plates, opened the drawer to get utensils, and then picks up the syrup from the counter. When he turns back around he is met with your confused and jokingly offended look. "Your cook isn't exactly the best at making oatmeal. I went everyday to see you. To talk to you." He places a plate and utensils in front of each spot, then uses his fork to place two pancakes on each plate.

"Well I feel special." You smile as you grab a few pieces of bacon, eating one as you place the rest in your plate.

You guys finish making your plates and start to eat in silence, takes small glances at each other like two teenagers that were totally in love on their first date. You subconsciously sway to the music still playing as you survey his apartment. You look back at him, admiring his side profile.

"So, you were there when it happened two years ago?" You asks suddenly but quietly. He furrowed his eyebrows for a second while he tried to figure out exactly what you meant, but quickly caught on.

"Oh, uh, yeah. When it happened, the world felt different. I mean, yeah, we just saw our best friends disappear right in front of our eyes, but we were in the middle of the jungle, and could feel that everything changed." Steve puts down his fork and leans back in his chair, focusing on his tapping on the table.

"You all must have felt pretty helpless, huh?" You begin to trace the rim of your coffee mug with your finger, watchung Steve's face as he slowly nods.

"For the first half year, we didn't know what to do. But that's when the building started for the memorial, and we knew that there had to be a way to bring everyone back…" your eyes light up at these words.

"How's that going?" A subtle smile grows on your face in hopes of good news.

"It's, uh, not going well." His eyebrows stayed furrowed as he looks up at you through his eyelashes. Your face drops at the unfortunate information. You stop circling the mug and place your hand on the table as you lower your head. "Hey," Steve grasps your fingers, running his thumb across your knuckles, making you look up at his serious yet sincere facial expression. "I promise, we won't stop until we bring everyone back." A small grin flashes onto his face. You copy his expression as you examined his eyes, looking for a hint of uncertainty that never came. His words gave you hope, and that's all that you ask for.

#black reader #marvel imagine #avengers imagines #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x black!reader #steve rogers #captain america #captain america x reader #captain america imagine #captain america x black! reader

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hellas-himself · 4 years

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WIP Whenever because you already know.

I’m the worst :)

Tagged by the darling @schoute

Life has been... shit. I’ve been drawing some more at least but I haven’t read any books and writing fics has come to a very sad pause.

But I FINALLY made a break through with my story. So here is the beginnings of the minor rewrite I’m doing to give Z, Manny and Sam what they deserve ;) @mythicaitt I spent the last few days going back to older work and seeing that I did lay down enough foundation so the OT3 can be a thing and it not be out of left field. I am soooooo excited.

She had been falling asleep when she heard a loud bang from downstairs. Zahara rose to her feet and hurried out of her room as she heard shouting, weapons being drawn. Soldiers stepped aside as she rushed to the front doors of the castle and stopped when she found June holding her dagger to an angel’s neck.

The angel was beautiful, with porcelain skin and raven hair… black wings so unlike her brother’s pure white. Her dark eyes met Zahara’s and despite having a blade to her neck and being shorter than her, the angel seemed to be looking down at Zahara.

“What the hell is this?” Zahara demanded and her brother answered, keeping his gaze on the angel.

“She brought Zacharia back to us… unconscious.”

“He’s unharmed-” The angel stopped when June stepped a little closer.

“She says she’s here for you.” June pressed her dagger enough to draw blood.

“And only her,” the angel said and June huffed a laugh. But before June could say a word, Zahara felt Samson as he appeared behind her. She watched what little color the angel had fade from her face as she beheld him, as he took his place beside Zahara.

“A half-truth,” Samson said far too calmly and the angel’s eyes widened. “This is the archangel Raphael… Emmanuel’s been taken- because of her.”

June let go of the archangel right before Zahara’s fist connected with her jaw.

“What the fuck did you do?” she growled as she took her by the hair, forcing the archangel to look up as she summoned fire with her free hand, holding the flames up to Raphael’s face.

“I was buying him time,” Raphael stammered out. “I swear. Samson… tell her!”

“Where is he?” Samson asked instead.

“I’ll take you to him,” Raphael replied. “But you won’t find him if I’m dead.”

“Try me, bitch,” Zahara hissed and Raphael flinched as the flames threatened to lick her too perfect skin.

“She speaks true,” Samson said at last, and Raphael sighed with relief as Zahara let her go and stepped back. She shook her hand, letting the flames die out.

“You’re going to take us to him.” Zahara motioned for June to follow her as she walked away. “And if there’s even one scratch on him, you and your Legion will be nothing but ash.”

Raphael is actually who Manny was in love with but Z doesn’t know that. Yet ;)

I can’t wait to flesh this out better but it’s a start. AND WHEN Z FINDS MANNY. ugh my heart guys

#wip wednesday #wip whenever #zahara morningstar #my ocs #emmanuel #samson #my ot3 #my writing #this isn't even anything yet and i'm feeling so hype and keep having to stop before i continue writing #also #let it be known that z is wearing pajamas in this scene lmao #very pretty pajamas meant for mannys eyes when he came home #except he didnt #read pajamas as negligeee

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adecila · 5 years

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Game of Thrones – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms - 8x02 episode analysis (kind of)

…or the episode we should have gotten last week.

And we’re back! I am not here to shit on last week’s episode I actually enjoyed it very much, if you just take it for what it was, but! I cannot help but remark how much better episode 2 has been to us… the writing was very very good and rich, and in character, and it finally feels like GoT and… I honestly don’t know what happened in episode 1. But moving on…

As you can already tell, this is going to my personal summary, thoughts and analysis of episode 02 of season 8. Going to put it all under a cut – spoilers, you have been warned.

Are you an Oathkeeper or on Oathbreaker? Or the Jaime Fucking Lannister Fest

Listen I am not calling this a trial, because it is not. Yes I know they call it a trial in the BTS and Inside the episode.

Dany’s speech about Jaime’s deeds against House Targaryen is very good. As I have mentioned in my preview analysis, this is the first time (third time is a charm ha) that Jaime and Dany speak to one another. She doesn’t know this man. This man tried to kill her and he killed her father.

I got right half of the stuff at least, for what it’s worth. Tyrion looks soooo sooo bad. LIKE YOU KNEW YOUR SISTER? Oh the glare!!! If looks could kill, Tyrion would be dust. LiStEn, Tyrion, honey. Sit down. Jeez, read the room, you are not making it better. Dany is right - why should she trust this man? And Sansa is right there with her… until Brienne speaks.

Gwen called Brienne’s speech something “almost like a declaration of love” and I think that is so beautiful it hurts. Not a Braime fan, but hey you got fed fam, I am happy for you! I already mentioned in my live blogging that it was either incoherent or just plain retcon to forget that Sansa sent Brienne to KL because she thought Brienne would kill her if it meant a showdown with Arya. But I digress.

I find it very interesting how Jaime didn’t apologise and his cojones to say so because “we were at war” - and I get it, my dude, Ser Hot Stuff, we all know all is fair in love and war, but I guess it would be ooc for him to apologise. Great delivery, I don’t particularly like NCW but this scene? Top notch. I rate it one doggy style fuck out of one, but so good your legs are wobbly and you can barely find the energy to plop on your bed afterwards.

The things we do for love… and Bran is back with the fucking shit stirring drama. We stan Bran Starkashian.

I find it interesting since this is also Dany’s chance to show how she rules - Lady Sansa says her opinion, which surprises Dany. Then she turns to Jon, who the entire time has been very very quiet. Like the kind of quiet you are when you have the biggest hangover and you are stuck in class and you just want it to be over with. So Jon says what he could say to get the fuck out of there. “We need every man we can get.” So Jaime is given his sword back after Grey Worm literally gives him the I AM WATCHING YOU BITCH glare.

But Jon’s chair is not facing forward, it is slightly oriented towards Dany’s. Notice how he doesn’t look at her, even when she addresses him directly. She gets up and everyone does so afterwards FINALLY SOME FUCKING RESPECT and she turns to Jon… and he doesn’t even look at her… and my baby looks heartbroken because he just ignores her *coughs* As soon as the meeting ended, he rushed out, not giving her a chance to say a word. *coughs*

In defence of Jon… Know what, we’ll talk about Jon later, when we get to the reveal.

Oh and Bran totes doesn’t care about Jaime enough to expose him in front of the entire Great Hall. Because ya know, he is a drama queen, but he keeps his cards close, he either already has a plan for Jaime or as he said, and as I have predicted from the preview, it serves no purpose to expose Jaime for what he did to Bran. Like just click on it and read it. Good that Bran called him out on his apology naaah bitch you don’t get to go holier than thou here. It is what it is.

Me at Bran this episode:

Jaime and Tyrion’s conversation is very interesting, not only about Dany in general whether she is worthy or not, and Tyrion seems to be team Dany. Was it just me or Tyrion more like whispered the part where he talks about Cersei’s baby. Also also listen Jaime, unless you’re suddenly a gynaecologist how the fuck do you know she is not lying? I loved how Tyrion called Jaime out on the fact that he loved Cersei despite knowing full well what and who she was. Dude let’s call it what it was. Don’t play coy now.

Ding ding ding Tyrion mentions marching to KL and killing Cersei … and that’s all I am gonna say about it.

Jaime x Brienne wow this ship is getting so fed - enjoy babies ! And I loved how Brienne was suddenly WHY ARENT YOU INSULTING ME I DONT KNOW HOW TO INTERACT TO YOU !!!! Brienne is leading the left flank and Jaime wants to be led by her. Keep in mind for next week’s episode! I am so proud of my son Pod, I am basically proudmom!Brienne tbh.

The episode in which Dany gets a lot of counsel - because that’s also the type of ruler she is

Tyrion x Varys x Jorah vs Dany - Dany gives the best scolding ever tbh. Moms, take notes, because look at Tyrion’s face. He knows this Christmas when the NK comes he will only get coal. No whores and wine for Tyrion. He was naughty boy.

KHALESSI - Listen. I don’t like Jorah in the books, and my impression of show!Jorah has always been tainted by it. But this Jorah is redeemed and deserves to live I WILL RIOT IF HE DIES. The scene he has with Dany is one of my favourites because it just shows how much history they have together. I will sob if he dies because he is the only one left from S1E01 with her. Jorah tells her to forgive Tyrion and seek out S.ansa to smooth things over. MY BEAR

S.ansa x Daenerys - First time I thought it was going well, they were bonding… and then S.ansa leaned forward and the hand placing seemed a bit too deliberate to me, too Margaery. What I am trying to say is that it is very hard to know if S.ansa is being genuine. It is a very good scene and it holds a lot of importance later on, more on that when I talk about the reveal in the last scene (and I this is what I wanted from episode 1 - cold but courteous.)

S.ansa tells Dany Jon loves her and that “men do stupid things for the women they love, they’re easily manipulated” - which, fair point; she saw Cersei and Margaery do it. Buuuut she also had the counter-argument: she saw how Littlefinger manipulated her aunt. So it goes both ways, bby.

“All my life I have known one goal: the Iron Throne […] until I met Jon

INTERRUPTING THIS PROGRAMME TO FLAIL BECAUSE HOLY SHIT WE FINALLY HEAR DANY CALL HIM “JON” ON SCREEN YES YES FUCKING FINALLY THANK YOU BABY JESUS AND MARY AND THE ENTIRE TEAM OF 12 APOSTLES

“Now I am here, half a world away, fighting Jon’s war alongside him. Tell me, who manipulated whom?” - I love how Dany turns the tables here, because she is right; if Dany was manipulating Jon, then how come she is the one here, fighting with all her men and resources and dragons? Who gains from this more? SEE S.ANSA IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE IF YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN-

FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING CONTENT.

Then S.ansa goes for that smile ugh and agaaaain I am having soooo much trouble taking it for genuine.

“I am here because I love your brother and I trust him and I know he is true to his word […]” I AM DEAD DEAD DEAD

And then it goes to shite because S.ansa is now clearly drawing inspiration from Theresa fucking May since she has no fucking skills to bring up Brexit - is it Nexit? Dany retreating her hands tho - she feels played LIKE REALLY BITCH I WAS SPEAKING FROM MY HEART AND YOU WERE JUST BUYING TIME HERE.

Theonsa everywhere - or the ship you never thought would happen in this show yet you can’t help but ship it

That hug!!!! Wow I loved it!!! Sophie and Alfie killed it. Also watch Dany in the background - my baby!!! Do you know how hard it is being around people with big families when you’re… alone? It’s fucking depressing, and I just want to hug Dany and carry her to safety.

We got 3 Theonsa moments (and one was a Jonerys parallel so you know the romantic undertones are strong) in this episode soooo yeah! Enjoy! I am afraid they are setting Theon up to die, especially since it would be poetic cinema.jpeg for him to die defending Bran after he took WF from him.

Also also feels like book!Theon and show!Theon are colliding again.

The Merry Men and the Night’s Watch leftovers ; and Ghost for 3 seconds - you’re welcome ; the Hound and Beric; Missandei and Grey Worm

Tormund calling Jon “little crow” was fucking everything! did you catch Jon’s smile??? Precious baby!!! And then asking about Brienne!!!! But did you catch Jon’s face when he saw Sam was also there - like ugh you again - BYE

Missandei x Grey - one of them is totally dead BYE I AM GONNA FLUNG MYSELF OUT THE WINDOW

Sam x Jon on the battlements - ugh Sam really you are looking soooooo bad right now. Jon’s face is again precious. He is so over Sam atm and he is just like WHEN WILL THE NK COME FOR ME BECAUSE IF I HAVE TO STAY ONE MORE SECOND WITH THIS BITCH ISTG– Then I got emo when Edd came up. Damn. Watch Edd die too… I feel it in mah bones. That’s how the last of the NW dies.

Arya x The Hound - I get soooo many dad feels from the Hound tbh and I love it. My guess the Hound makes it. Beric tho??? hmmm Idk about that.

Tormund is fucking insane and I love him

THE BRIENNE KNIGHTING WAS EVERYTHING AND I CANT EVEN LOOK AT THE GIFS WITHOUT SOBBING MAH HEART - also!!! Dunk and Egg reference - Brienne parallel?? And the title of the episode! ugh Summerhall references? BRIENNE DO NOT DIE

Sam gives Jorah Heartsbane - Good. It’s what Jorah deserves. *pushes Sam out of the shot*

Pod singing Jenny’s Song is tearing me apart and making me sob harder I FUCKING LOST IT AND I AM STILL GETTING CHILLS YALL THIS WAS FUN. SEEMS EVERYONE DIES. No, I jest. But I love how they paired up the couples for a tragic love song - Brienne x Jaime, Sam x Gilly, S.ansa x Theon, Arya x Gendry, Missandei x Greyworm, Jon x Dany. I wouldn’t look too much into the song choice tbh, since in Inside the episode they say they knew they wanted a song and they just picked this one and added more verses since it was incomplete. I know this is the second Summerhall reference, but ya know, I personally wouldn’t look too much into it. Edit: I should have never trusted D&D - now go read these amazing posts made by @tomakeitbeautifultolive in which she explains the song and the significance for Jonerys. Also Ramin Djawadi spoke about the song and fed our fandom just today (April 25th).

The War Council or let’s gather around Bran Starkashian so he can spill some tea on the NK

Plan sounds basic imo, not that I had expected much about that, but in Miguel we trust and we know he will absolutely crash this battle in episode 3.

Interesting how the casually dropped that apparently the NK’s goal is to destroy Bran. And the mention of the mark - so now basically Bran is chipped. Cool beans. Sam’s remark about “death is forgetting, being forgotten is very interesting. Memories don’t come from books, your stories aren’t just stories.” - interesting take here. I Sam writing the book about Jonerys? If so I am afraid he has A FUCKING BIAS OMG I AM GETTING HEATED AGAIN. Also my friend @iane-casey was totally annoyed how much screen time Sam got which honestly same dude I am still pissed at you *joins Jon to brood and glare at Sam*

Dany publicly makes a point in that she still needs Tyrion aka he is forgiven so that there is no bad blood between them.

Lmao my friend @zavocado says we should totes just tape Bran to Drogon’s belly and lure the NK away from WF *grabs the duct-tape*

FINALLY A MAP: listen, they are outnumbered as fuuuuck… besides that it is clear that Dany’s forces will get the most hit since they are in the vanguard, Birenne on the left with the Knights of the Vale and some Stark forces, on the right we get the rest of the North, and the Mormonts are inside the gates!

Jon walks on Dany a second time - Dany stops as the room clears out (Qhono and Jorah and Varys behind her), looks expectandly at Jon, he doesn’t look at her (MY BABY BOY HE LOOKS SO ROUGH DID HE EVEN SLEEP?), falters “Your Grace”, and bolts. She falters, her face is all WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING and she clears the room too. More on that at the end.

Gendrya or the OTP you did not know you need and why you fucking need it

First of all, this fandom is so pure. I loooooved all the Gendrya on my dash from episode 1 and then this episode I got flooded and I am here for it bitch. Give me all the feels.

I cannot wait to see Arya with her new weapon!!!

GENDRY IS SO SHOOKETH BY ARYA AND I LOVED THAT SHE TOPPED HIM

I HAVE A SON YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER LET’S JOIN OUR HOUSES

The gendrya - jonerys parallels??? EVERYTHING JUST WOW

Jonerys parentage reveal 2.0 or the reveal Jon also deserved not the travesty he got

I will do a play by play of the scene, but first. Why does Jon avoid Dany? Simple. He is hurting. Since we get the Jaime vs Bran stare down and then we get the Jaime trial, it is safe to assume that happens the morning after Sam blurted the truth to Jon about his mom and dad.

So at Jaime’s fake trial, Jon had what? A few hours at best to process everything - and by that I mean: Dany is his aunt; Ned lied to him his entire life (no matter the reason, Jon has been raised a certain way and to hear the man who was so honourable was capable of the biggest lie in the realm… das huge! so this is shocking his entire moral compass and belief system built upon the education his dad gave him); his dad actually loved his mom and married her so he is no longer a bastard - ya know aka the thing that affected his entire life and the thing he wanted most; his mom died giving birth to him and she managed to think of him in her last moments, enough to make Ned promise her he will take care of her son; the fact that if Robert even caught a whiff of it, he would have been dead. SO that is a LOT LOT.

Which explains why Jon was so out of it when he is asked about Jaime. Also explains why he bolts out of the room without looking at Dany - I think if he had even so much as looked at her he would have broken down. He isn’t ready for it.

Oh the stuff I mentioned he had to come to terms with? On top of all of it we must add the stress of finding a way of telling all of this to Dany in a way that he doesn’t hurt her. Also I bet your ass he thought there was a chance she may not believe him (he himself did not in the beginning)… and a chance she may think he wants the throne since Sam drilled this into his head so now he is afraid of that too.

So when Jon is in the war room he had what? around 12 hours in total since Sam told him? 15? 20? Do you think that’s enough? Because I don’t. But this time he is doing much better. So he is still not looking at Dany, but he addressed her “Your Grace” and leaves - which means he is already in a better place than where he was in the morning, but not quite there yet.

This is good angst. We should rejoice, it will hurt before it gets better.

Moving on. Why didn’t he just directly go to Dany? I honestly don’t think it’s in Jon’s character to seek out comfort. This is a kid who had no one to go to when he would hurt himself. That shit stays with you. You don’t just flip a switch and start seeking out your other half. No, in moments of stress the brain reverts to things it knows bets, to muscle memory and old habits; it uses the energy to overthink itself to death so ain’t nobody got time for that new behaviours shit. At this point jonerys have been together for how long? 3? 4 weeks? That’s not that much. They are used to each other, but not enough to break old habits and past traumas.

Now, the reveal:

Dany stops, silently asking permission before she approaches Jon. Poor bean must be a bit hurt that he avoided her twice, so better make sure he actually wants her company. Jon actually smiles at her, even if it is a sad smile. It kills me how he is just staring at him mom’s statue. KILLS ME. Only then, she approaches him (look at her face, brief relief!). She stops next to him, he turns to her and nods, and only THEN SHE EMBRACES HIS SIDE, HOLDING HIS HANDS, CHIN TO HIS SHOULDER.

“Who is that?”

“Lyanna Stark.” Jon eventually says

Dany looks a bit like oh… shit, again my family yikes… I would say she looks apologetic. “My brother Rhaegar, everyone told me he was decent and kind. He liked to sing. Gave money to poor children. And he raped her” - ok but this is big, because Dany just in S7 recognised her own rape… So no wonder her opinion on Rhaegar is not that good atm.

“He didn’t”

Dany looks shook, but she is still holding onto Jon. Notice how his hand is on hers?

“He loved her.”

She doesn’t interrupt. Jon almost looks like he is feeling brave, so he keeps her hand into his and turns to face her.

“They were married in secret. After Rhaegar fell on the Trident, she had a son. Robert would have murdered the baby if he ever found out and Lyanna knew it.”

Dany is surpised, but so far so good. Jon stares into her eyes.

“So the last thing she did as she bled to death on her birthing bed was give the boy to her brother” – camera on Emilia — oh shit for a split second it starts to show that she is putting two and two together – “Ned Stark” – her eyes widen and she blinks – “to raise as his bastard” – she exhales, breathing accelerates – “My name,” – breathing heavily on her part – “my real name” -- she looks incredulous and nods a smal no – “is Aegon Targaryen” – she blinks, exhales, puls away her hand and turn halfway away from Jon.

She looks away, then at him, he is almost leaning over her but still too far. “That’s impossible.”

Camera on Jonerys

“I wish it were.” (SEE THIS IS WHAT I AM SAYING MY POOR SON)

“Who told you this?”

“Bran. He was it.”

“He SAW it?” She sound clipped, the ARE YOU KIDDING ME tone clipped

“And Samwell confirmed it.”He read about their marriage at the CItadel” – camera on Emilia —”without even knowing what it meant” (OK BUT FUCK OFF SAM GILLY READ THAT) - Dany’s face her, she is clearly restraining herself because this sounds insane.

“A secret no one in the world knew, except your brother and your best friend, doesn’t seem strange to you?” she shakes her head and it breaks my heart how you can see the wheels turning in her head going fuck here we go again, I laid my heart bare and that’s it. Yet another betrayal.

Camera on Kit. He looks at her, takes a step forward “It’s true, Dany.” – camera on Emilia – “I know it is.” (UM HELLO DANY I AM HYPERVENTILATING BITCH)

Dany shakes her head, her face looks full with distrust. Then it goes to despair - her voice shaky “If it were true, it would make you the last male heir of the House Targaryen.” – camera on Kit HE FUCKING FROWNS LIKE WHAT – camera on Emilia – “You’d have a claim to the Iron Throne” – camera on Kit and his face goes again WHA—

THEN THE FUCKING HORN SOUNDS. Jon turns his head towards the door, but Dany keeps staring at him and she looks heartbroken.

They go out and it’s all business. He nods to her and she leaves. Interesting though - she comes out first. Jon turned back towards the sound so if they were just running out he should have come out first. Either he remembered to be courteous or there is another small exchange we didn’t get to see. Or maybe I am reading way into things and it was a lame ass decision hahah.

Ok so the reveal to Dany - you better fucking take notes Sam cuz this is how you do a reveal: being calm, level headed, explaining to the person as much as you can, answering questions.

On Dany’s reaction: my friend @oadara said it so so well in this post here. So, building on that, we need to put her reaction in context, just like I did with Jon’s cold shoulder. Dany’s discussion with S.asnsa is fresh in her mind, not just the part about who is manipulating whom, and that must drive her nuts now, but also the part in which S.asnsa did a 180 on her just when she thought she was making progress, so feeling like she was being manipulated. One of course must start asking questions. Has Jon just found out? Has he always known? Did he seduce her to take her armies and her dragons her her throne?? Moreover, Dany specifically tells S.ansa that her only goal in life has been the Iron Throne. Imagine that - having one goal in life, and suddenly someone comes in and can just rip it all away from you, poof just like that, they just need to say the word. Moreover, males have preference… and so many would rather follow a male than a female. And that’s a fact.

Moreover… she still thinks herself barren…

Like I am not saying Dany suddenly hates Jon or will cast him away (ok maybe she will initially I have a prediction/theory I will explain in a different post). I am saying… JUST GIVE DANY TIME. She just found out and now she gotta go save everyone’s ass. Let the girl breathe.

I was asking myself but why would Jon tell her now? If he himself wishes she had never known? I think it may be a very Ned Stark thing - he genuinely thinks he will fall, and he wanted to tell her the truth, because Rhaegar Targaryen may be his dad but Ned Stark is his daddy.

What do you think? As always, dms and asks are open!

Will make a preview post and another about my jonerys theory.

All in all, this episode was incredible and I loved it. I am so not ready for the fight fuuuuuuuuuuuu-

#got spoilers #got spoilers 8x02 #got 8x02 summary #jonerys #jonerys meta #r+l=j #got meta #game of thrones #my analysis

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upontheshelfreviews · 5 years

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And now we come to the final piece of Walt Disney’s original animation trifecta, Fantasia, and it’s one I’m both anticipating and dreading. Fantasia isn’t just one of the crowning jewels in Disney’s canon, a landmark in motion picture animation, and second only to Snow White in terms of influential music and storytelling in the whole medium, it’s one of my top three favorite movies of all time. Discussing it without sounding like an old history professor, a pretentious internet snob, or a hyper Disney fangirl is one hell of a daunting task.

“Did someone say hyper Disney fangirl?! I LOVE Disney!!”

“I thought you only liked Frozen.”

“Well, DUH, Frozen is my favorite, which makes it, like, the best Disney movie ever! But Disney’s awesome! There’s a bunch of other movies I like that are almost as good!”

“And Fantasia’s one of them?”

“Yeah!!…Which one is that again?”

“The one with Sorcerer Mickey?”

“Ohhhh, you’re talking about the fireworks show where he fights the dragon!”

“No, that’s Fantasmic. I’m referring to Fantasia. Came out the same year as Pinocchio? All done in hand-drawn animation…has the big devil guy at the end?”

“THAT’S where he’s from?! Geez, that’s some old movie. Why haven’t I heard about ’til now?”

“Probably because you spend twelve hours a day searching for more Frozen GIFs to reblog on your Tumblr.”

“Ooh, that reminds me! I need to go post my next batch of theories about the upcoming sequel! Toodles!!”

“Thanks. Another second with her and I would’ve bust a gasket.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Anyway, it’s no surprise Sorcerer Mickey is what people remember the most from Fantasia, and not just because he’s the company mascot. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” was the reason we have the movie in the first place. It began as a pet project between Walt Disney and renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski.

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“Yep. THAT Leopold.”

However, between the upscale in animation and the use of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the cost grew too high to justify the creation of only one short. Over time more sequences featuring animation set to various pieces of classical music were added in what was initially dubbed “The Concert Feature”. Later it was wisely changed to the more memorable “Fantasia”. It works not only because it’s derived from the word “fantasy”, but because “fantasia” is a term for a musical composition that doesn’t follow any strict form and leans towards improvisation. Combine the two meanings and you get the whole movie in a nutshell.

And this leads us to –

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #1: “It’s SOOOOOO boring! Nobody’s talking and nothing ever happens!”

You know, few recall that decades before Warner Brothers was known as that studio that made rushed prequels to beloved fantasy franchises and a hastily cobbled together superhero universe, it had humble origins in the music business; their Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes shorts began as music videos made to sell their records. Disney’s Silly Symphonies followed in the same vein, though they focused more on pushing the envelope in animation technique and character resonance than selling music, as did the lesser known Harman-Ising Happy Harmonies.

And if that’s the case, then Fantasia is the Thriller of animated music videos. It’s the result of years of technological advancement and trial and error, all culminating in the flawless weaving together of visuals and some of the greatest music mankind has created to tell seven stories and elicit an emotional response for each one.

Let me repeat that: FANTASIA. PREDATES. THRILLER.

“And unlike Thriller, Fantasia has the advantage of NOT being directed by a man who literally got away with murder or involving an artist whose pedophilia accusations are still discussed a decade after his passing…at least as far as we know.”

By the way, if you’re watching the current version of Fantasia that’s available, do me a favor and pause the movie to watch the original Deems Taylor intros; while they’re shorter than the ones on the blu-ray, they have Deem’s original voice. All later releases have him dubbed over by Corey Burton because the audio for these parts hasn’t held up as well over time. Now Corey Burton is a phenomenal voice actor who’s done countless work for Disney before, but there’s a problem I have with him taking over these segments: One, he and Deems sound nothing alike, and Two, he makes him sound so dry and dull. Not to mention the longer intros practically spoil everything you’re about to see whereas the cut versions give you just enough to build some intrigue for what’s to follow.

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Regardless of whichever one you’re watching, Deems gives us the rundown on what Fantasia is all about and lists the three categories that the sequences fall under.

A concrete story

Clearly defined images with something of a narrative

Music and visuals that exist for its own sake

And the very first of these parts falls directly into the last one.

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – Johann Sebastian Bach

Some hear this tune and attribute it as stock horror music, but for me it’s the start of a grand, dark, fantastical journey through realms of the imagination. While it is intended as an organ piece, this full orchestration blows me away. Capturing the orchestra in bold hues and shadows with colors specific to certain highlighted instruments was a brilliant move, setting the stage for what’s to come.

And if the previously referenced Bugs Bunny cartoon was any indication, the real Leopold Stokowski is one of the main draws to this segment. Stokowski’s claim to fame was that he ditched the traditional conductor’s baton and used his hands to guide the orchestra. His passion and restraint is plain for all to see, even in silhouette.

Ultimately Stokowski and the orchestra fade away into the animated ether. The idea behind Toccota and Fugue was to show a gradual transformation from the conscious world to the subconscious, providing a literal and figurative representation of what you see and hear with the music. That’s why the first animated images resemble violin bows sweeping over strings. Over time those distinct objects evolve into abstract geometric shapes.

Honestly, no amount of stills can capture what it’s like to watch this sequence play out. It’s a radically unique experience, almost like a dream.

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #2: “It’s the world’s first screensaver/musicalizer!”

This is something I hear often from people (ie. the people making the complaints I’ve chosen to highlight). First, read the previous Thing. Second, Toccata is not so much about recreating a story as it is capturing a feeling. And yet a story isn’t out of the question. I always saw at as glimpses of a battle of light versus dark, heaven versus hell, albeit not as overt as the opening of Fantasia 2000. That’s the beauty of this segment. It’s all up for interpretation. You can let the images and sounds wash over you as if you were dreaming it, or attach whatever meaning you find.

And on that note (ha) –

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #3: “God, all these animators must have been so fucking high to come up with this shit.”

I tell ya what, if you’re one of those people who think that, take whatever drug is handy, grab some crayons or whatever you feel comfortable doodling with, and when you’re comfortably high, draw one full second of animation. That’s 24 consecutive drawings that need to flow, squash and stretch into each other realistically. It doesn’t have complicated; it can be a ball bouncing, a flower blowing in the wind, an eye blinking, but it has to work.

Not so easy, huh?

Classic Disney animators who lectured at art schools received comments like this all the time. While there were some like Fred Moore who would go for the occasional beer run on breaks, there’s no record of narcotic or alcoholic influence on the animators’ turnout. I’m pretty sure Walt would’ve fired anyone who turned in work produced while high because it’d be awful. Animation was still a fairly new medium at the time, and Disney was constantly experimenting with what it could do, which is why we got things like this, the Pink Elephants, and other delightfully trippy moments throughout the 40’s, not because of drugs. Isn’t that right, classic Disney animator Bill Tytla?

“Of course! I’ve never done drugs, and I never drink…wine.”

The Nutcracker Suite – Pyotr Illich Tchaichovsky

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #4: “Yawn. Nutcracker is SO overplayed. Of course Disney had to jump on the bandwagon with their version!”

Ironically, the extended Deems Taylor intro has him mention how nobody performs Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker; in light of its modern seasonal popularity, the sentiment is rendered archaic. True, the ballet wasn’t an initial critical hit and Tchaikovsky himself virtually disowned it, but much of its ubiquity is largely due in part to Disney adapting it for Fantasia. It eschews the title character in favor of a nature ballet portraying the cycle of seasons. Initial planning included the overture and the famous march featuring woodland critters, though they were eventually cut. Walt considered pumping scents into the theater during this part, but was unable to figure out how to do it naturally. If they had Smell-O-Vision that might work, but what scents would you have to scratch off for the other Fantasia segments? Wood resin? Wine? Wet hippo? Brimstone?

The sequence begins with The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. In the night a group of fairies dance like fireflies, gracing spring flowers and spiderwebs with delicately timed dewdrops.

“Any of you girls seen Tinkerbell?” “She ditched us to hang out with that obnoxious flyboy.” “Again?! That’s the third time this month!”

The scene is atmospheric with beautifully rendered pastel backgrounds. After the fairies comes The Chinese Dance performed by a group of little mushrooms. It’s a cute number, and just another that was parodied more than a few times in other cartoons – wait do those mushrooms have slant eyes? And they’re prancing around nodding like extras in The Mikado…

You fungi are lucky you’re so darn adorable otherwise I’d sic the self-righteous side of Twitter on you.

Dance of the Reed Flutes follows. Lilies gently float on to the surface of a pond before inverting themselves to resemble twirling dancers with long, flowing skirts. And since I’m not always one to take the easy route, enjoy this niche reference instead of “You Spin Me Right Round”.

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A gust of wind blows the spinning lilies over a waterfall into some moody underwater caverns, where a school of unusually sultry goldfish perform the Arabian Dance.

Cleo, does Gepetto know about this?

A novel idea, using the basic swimming motions of a goldfish and their naturally diaphanous tails and fins as veils to resemble exotic dancers, though like other animated characters in a similar vein, this has led to some…”interesting” reactions from certain people.

Right, well, bubbles transition us into the penultimate movement, the Russian Dance. Thistles and orchids resembling dancers clad in traditional Russian peasant clothing spring to life in this brightly colored energetic minute. You’ll be chanting “hey!” along with it.

And finally, the Waltz of the Flowers. As a little girl I would often hold my own “ballets” to this scene, which mainly comprised of me in a ballet costume or fancy nightgown spinning around in circles for family members with this playing in the background. Top that, Baryshnikov.

Fairies similar to the ones from the beginning transform the leaves from fresh summer green to autumn orange, brown and gold. Milkweed seeds blossom forth and float through the air like waltzing ladies. This piece above all else is what really shows the beauty of nature. I feel more emotion watching the leaves pirouette in the wind than any plain live-action drama.

Fall turns into winter, and the fairies, now snow sprites, skate across a pond creating ice swirls while even more spiral down from the sky as snowflakes. The secret of animating these snowflakes was nearly lost to time. Several years ago a notebook by technician Herman Schultheis was rediscovered, revealing how many of the special effects in Disney’s early films – Fantasia in particular – were brought to life. The snowflakes were cels on spools attached to small rails from a train set that were filmed falling in stop motion and black and white, then superimposed on the final picture.

In conclusion, The Nutcracker Suite is a lovely piece of animation and music, and I’ll pop in Fantasia at Christmastime just to watch it. This was my introduction to The Nutcracker, and it’s an excellent and unique one.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Paul Dukas

The symphonic poem of the same name now gets a proper name with Mickey Mouse stepping in the title role. It’s impossible to imagine any other character in his shoes, but for a time there were other considerations.

“Nope. Too wooden.”

“Too angry.”

“I’m sorry, but you’re just too darn loud.”

As we all know, Mickey was given the part since his popularity needed a boost. He doesn’t talk here, and I know those who find his voice grating wholeheartedly embrace that fact, but what we’re given is proof that Mickey works just as well silently as he does speaking. Very few cartoon characters can pull off that kind of versatility.

And while we’re on the topic of sound, Walt was so determined for the sound quality to match what was happening on screen that he devised a system he dubbed “FantaSound”, where it would seem as though the music would move around the the theater instead of just blare out from one speaker.

You read that right. Fantasia is the movie that invented SURROUND SOUND.

But that’s not the only technological leap Fantasia is responsible for – this is the first time we see Mickey with sclera.

That’s the white of the eyes for those who don’t speak science.

Before Fantasia, Mickey had what we refer to today as “pie eyes”, a relic of the era he was created in. As the art of animation progressed, animators found it increasingly difficult to create believable expressions with two little dots. Fred Moore is responsible for the mouse’s welcome redesign. Mickey as the apprentice serves the sorcerer Yen Sid, named after his real world counterpart.

“Hey! I didn’t teach him that!”

Mickey’s craving a taste of his master’s power, so he borrows his magical cap after he goes to bed and enchants a broom to finish his work of gathering water. It’s fun and bouncy, though the part where Mickey dreams he can control the cosmos, seas and sky is something to behold.

“The power! The absolute POWER!! The universe is mine to command! To CONTROOOOOOL!!!”

But Mickey is jolted from his dream of ultimate conquest when the broom begins flooding the place. Unfortunately the sorcerer’s hat doesn’t come with a manual so Mickey doesn’t know how to turn it off. He resorts to violently chopping the broom to pieces with an axe. The animation originally called for the massacre to happen on screen, but was altered to showing it through shadows instead. I think it’s much more effective this way. The implied violence is more dramatic than what we could have gotten.

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One of my favorite stylistic choices in Fantasia is what follows. The color is sucked out, drained if you will, mirroring Mickey’s exhausted emotional and physical state after committing broomslaughter. But it slowly returns as the broom’s splinters rise up and form an army of bucket-wielding drones. They overpower Mickey and catch him in a whirlpool until Yen Sid returns and parts the waters like a pissed off Moses.

“You! Shall not! SWIM!!!”

Mickey sheepishly returns the hat, and I have to give credit to the animators for the subtle touches on Yen Sid. He appears stern at first glance, but the raised eyebrow borrowed from Walt? The slight smirk at the corner of his mouth? Deep down, he’s amused by his apprentice’s shenanigans. Even the backside slap with the broom, while rendered harshly due to the sudden swell of music, is done less out of malice and more out of playfulness.

The piece ends with Mickey breaking the barriers of reality to congratulate Stokowski on a job well done.

“Hey! I didn’t teach him that!”

If you haven’t already guessed, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is easily one of my preferred sequences. It’s energetic, perfectly matches the music, and features my favorite mouse in one of his most iconic roles. I joke about the scene where Mickey controls the waves and the sky due to Disney’s far-reaching acquisitions in the past decade, but within the context of the film it’s one of the most magical moments. Some theorize that The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is an allegory of Walt’s journey to create Fantasia itself, and there’s some merit to it – Mickey’s always been Walt’s avatar after all, and here he dreams big only to wind up way in over his head. But you don’t need to look for coincidental parallels to enjoy this part.

Rite of Spring – Igor Stravinsky

Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is admittedly my least favorite part of Fantasia, though I don’t hate it by all means. Thematically it’s the furthest from the original work’s intent: instead of a pagan ritual involving a virgin sacrifice, we witness the earth’s infancy. I was never really into dinosaurs as a kid (I didn’t even see Jurassic Park until I was in fourth or fifth grade), and the thundering, threatening music put me off. I found it too long (twenty-two minutes is an eternity in child time), uninteresting, and dour compared to the other sequences, with the exception of one moment. I can appreciate it now that I’m older, though.

A solitary oboe echoes through the vast darkness of space. We soar past comets, galaxies, suns, and down into our lonely little planet still in the early stages of formation. Volcanoes cover the earth. They spew toxic gas, but their magma bubbles burst in precision with the music. Once again this is due to Herman Schultheis. He filmed a mixture of oatmeal, coffee grounds, and mud with air pushed up through a vent, and let the animators go to town on it.

The volcanoes erupt simultaneously. Lava flows and the ensuing millennia of cooling form the continents. But deep in the sea, the first protozoan life wriggles, divides, and evolves into multi-cellular organisms. One of them crawls up on to land, and finally we’re back in the time where dinosaurs weren’t just confined to zoos.

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #4: “Dinosaur inaccuracies…brain melting…”

True, most of the dinosaur and plant species here never shared the same period of existence, but try telling that to the animation studio or John Hammond. They mostly went for whatever looked cool and prehistoric regardless of scientific accuracy. Some of the designs themselves are a bit off, but the animators did their best considering how much we knew about the creatures in the 30’s and 40’s. Heck, we’ve only recently discovered that most dinosaurs were covered with feathers or fur, and I don’t see anyone harping on Jurassic Park for omitting that detail. Thank God Steven Spielberg doesn’t harbor George Lucas’ affinity for reworking his past movies with extra CGI.

Believe it or not, this scene was once considered the height of accurate dinosaur depictions on film, because nobody else had done it before with this level of research and care in animation. Without Rite Of Spring, we wouldn’t have The Land Before Time or Jurassic Park in the first place. Look at Land Before Time’s bleak, orangey atmosphere and the Sharptooth fights and tell me this didn’t influence it in any way.

The dinosaurs themselves have little character and, while fascinating to see how they might have lived, are not particularly engaging. Until…

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Yes, when the king of all dinosaurs makes his entrance, bringing a thunderstorm along with him no less, all the others are wise to run and hide from him. I would hide under a quilt but still peek through the holes in awe. He snaps about throwing his weight around, but when it goes toe to toe with a stegosaurus? That’s when things get real.

This battle, by the way, is animated by Woolie Reitherman, who had a knack for bringing gargantuan characters to life. He was responsible for animating Monstro in Pinocchio, and was behind Maleficent’s dragon form in Sleeping Beauty.

Though what follows is far from triumphant. The earth has become a hot, barren wasteland. The dinosaurs trudge through deserts and tar pits, their fruitless search for water turning into a slow death march. Not even the mighty T-Rex can survive this.

California: present day.

Some time later, the dinosaurs are all gone. Only their bones bleaching in the sun remain. Without warning, a massive earthquake hits and the seas flood through, washing away the remains of the old prehistoric world. The sequence comes full circle as the lonely oboe plays over a solar eclipse, which sets on an earth ready to step into the next stage of life.

If Walt had his way, the segment would have continued with the evolution of man and ended on a triumphant note with the discovery of fire, but he was worried about the possible backlash from zealous creationists. And I don’t blame him for wanting to avoid a confrontation with that crowd.

“It’s bad enough he makes a mouse act like a people with his dadgum pencil sorcery, but propagandizin’ evil-loution in mah Saturday mornin’ toon box? That’s just plum un-okkily-dokkily!”

“…You wouldn’t happen to have a dictionary on hand, would you?”

“DICTIONARIES ARE THE DEVIL’S BOOSTER SEAT!!”

Subsequently, those edits made to Stravinsky’s score pissed off the composer so much that he considered suing Disney for tampering with his work. He opted not to, yet the experience turned him off animation for good. A crying shame; Stravinsky, apart from being the only classical composer alive to see his work made part of a Fantasia feature, was excited to work with Walt. The two deeply respected and recognized each other as artists ahead of their time. Who knows what else could have come from their collaboration if things ended better?

With that knowledge, it makes sense that one of Stravinsky’s most famous pieces, the Firebird Suite, was included in Fantasia 2000: perhaps on some level Disney wanted to apologize for how the finale of Rite of Spring was mishandled by making Firebird the grand finale (though knowing Stravinsky he would have hated the little changes made to his music there as well).

Following the intermission, the orchestra reconvenes and has a fun little jam session. Deems Taylor takes a moment to introduce us to the most important – but rarely seen – figure that makes Fantasia and most music in movies possible, The Soundtrack.

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Once again, Disney does what it does best and anthropomorphizes what no one thought was possible. Think about it: giving personalities to animals is one thing, but they’ve successfully done the same for plants, planes, houses, hats, and here, sound itself. It may seem silly and out of place, but I think it’s brilliant and charming. The visuals it creates to represent different instruments are perfectly matched; some of them harken back to Toccata and Fugue. This, combined with the improv from the orchestra, is a good way to ease us back into comfort after the harshness of Rite of Spring.

Pastoral Symphony – Ludwig Van Beethoven

There’s a famous story about Walt Disney while he was pitching this segment. When met with complaints that it wasn’t working, he cried out This’ll MAKE Beethoven!” In a way, he was right. This was the very first piece of Beethoven I ever heard, even before the famous “da da da DUUUUUN” of Symphony #5. And as far as I know, it was for a good many Disney fans too. We still get a romantic depiction of the countryside as was the composer’s intent, but instead of an rural utopia, we see the Fields of Elysium at the foot of Mount Olympus. It’s home to a variety of mythical creatures from the golden age of Greece: fauns, unicorns, cherubs, centaurs and Pegasi.

If there was ever a Disney world I wanted to spend a day in, this would be it. It’s so innocent, laidback and colorful; it takes me right back to my childhood. A great portion of this sequence was used in my favorite music video in the Simply Mad About the Mouse anthology album, “Zip A Dee Doo Dah” sung by Ric Ocasek from The Cars. Whether that was my favorite because it featured Pastoral Symphony or Pastoral Symphony was my favorite because it was featured in the video I don’t know. There’s nothing that could ever destroy it for –

Oh son of a…

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #5: “RACIST. FUCKING. CENTAUR. EQUALS. RACIST. DISNEY… RACIST!!!”

Yes ladies and gents, that image is real. Meet Sunflower (or Otika, I’m not sure which one she is) one of the the censored centaurettes (for very obvious reasons). I’m of two minds when it comes to their inclusion. First off, yes, they’re crude and demeaning blackface caricatures that have no place in a Disney movie, let alone one of the best ones and in one of my favorite sequences. But my inner art/film historian that despises censorship feels that erasing these depictions is the same as pretending they and other prejudices of the time never existed.

Thank you, Warner Bros.

As time and the civil rights movement marched on, all traces of the Sunflower squad were removed from later releases of Fantasia. The downside to that was editing techniques at the time weren’t as high-tech as they are today; I was lucky to see a film print of Fantasia at the Museum of Modern Art in 2015 that must have dated as far back as the ’60s because she wasn’t there, but the cuts were very noticeable. Sad to say the amazing remastered tracks done by Irwin Kostal in the 80’s used a similar print because the shift in the music is very jarring at points in this segment. It wasn’t until Fantasia’s 50th anniversary that they were able to zoom in and crop the scenes that had Sunflower in them while recycling other pieces of animation over parts where they couldn’t get rid of her, eventually managing to digitally erase her from some of the film entirely (look carefully at the part where the red carpet is being rolled out for Bacchus on the blu-ray. Unless he got it from the Cave of Wonders, carpets normally don’t roll themselves…)

I completely understand the reasoning behind Sunflower’s removal, but can also see why animation aficionados would try to pressure Disney into bringing her back with each new re-release for Fantasia, possibly with one of those great Leonard Maltin intros putting everything into context like in the tragically out-of-print Disney Treasures dvds – though the chances of that happening are as likely as Song of the South being made public again (the Disney+ promo should have made that clearer when they claimed Disney’s entire back catalogue would be available for streaming, but I doubt the tag line “We have everything except Song of the South” would hook people). It’s an issue I’m very torn on. So if there was ever a chance that a version of Fantasia with a restored Sunflower was possible, either through Disney themselves or fan edits, my thoughts on it would be a very resounding…

The first movement of the symphony is “Awakening of Pleasant Feelings upon Arriving in the Country”, and this part does just that. As the sun rises and we get our first glimpse of the technicolor fantasyland. Pan flute-playing fauns and unicorns frolic with each other while a herd of Pegasi take to the sky. Again, going back to other notable movies taking cues from Fantasia, Ray Harryhausen carefully studied the movement of the Pegasi here when creating his stop-motion Pegasus for Clash of the Titans. They canter through the air as they would on land, but in the water they move with the grace of a swan.

And look at the little baby ones, they’re just too cute!

The second movement, “Scene by the Brook”, takes place exactly where you think it does. A group of female centaurs, named “centaurettes” by the animators, doll themselves up with the help of some cupids (and the aforementioned Sunflower) in preparation for mating season.

“”I used to like the centaurettes not just because they were pretty but because each of them having different colors could be interpreted as women of all colors hanging out together and finding love. But no, having Sunflower there confirms that they’re all supposed to be lighter-skinned ladies. Racism given context makes it no less of a pain in the ass.”

The male centaurs arrive and hook up with their conveniently color-matching counterparts. The cherubs help set the mood for their flirting interludes until they discover two shy, lonely centaurs (Brudus and Melinda, because I’m that big of a Disney nerd that I know their actual names) who haven’t found each other yet. They lure them to a grove with some flute music a la The Pied Piper and it’s love at first sight.

One of my favorite details throughout the Pastoral Symphony is that we keep coming back to Brudus and Melinda. They’re a cute couple, one of the closest things we have to main characters in this sequence, and it’s nice to follow them.

Our third movement is “Peasants’ Merrymaking”. The centaur brigade prepare an overflowing vat of wine for Bacchus, god of booze and merrymaking. Bacchus, forever tipsy, arrives backed up by some black zebra centaurettes serving him. Maybe they were considered attractive enough to avoid being censored.

The bacchanalia is in full swing with everyone dancing and getting loaded. But Zeus, who appears more sinister than Laurence Olivier or his future Disney counterpart, crashes the party with a big thunderstorm. I used to think he was a jerk for endangering his subjects just for kicks, but in light of recent revelations maybe he had ulterior motives.

“Feel the wrath of the thunder god, you fucking racists!”

“Come on, dad, you used to be fun! Where’s the Zeus turns into a cow to pick up chicks?!”

“He grew up. Maybe you should too, son. Now EAT LIGHNING!”

“The Storm”, our fourth movement, provides some stunning imagery against the torrential backdrop, from the centaurs being called to shelter to the pegasus mother braving the gale to rescue her baby.

Ultimately Zeus grows tired and turns in for the night, ending the storm. Iris, goddess of the rainbow, emerges and leaves her technicolor trail across the sky. The creatures revel in the effects it has on their surroundings, then gather on a hill to watch the sunset, driven by Apollo and his chariot. Everyone settles in to sleep, and Artemis, hunting goddess of the moon, shoots an comet across the sky like an arrow that fills the sky with twinkling stars.

Pastoral Symphony was the one part of Fantasia that always received the most derision from critics, but racist characters aside I simply don’t get the hate for it. It may be longer than Rite of Spring but feels nowhere near as drawn out. I love the colors, characters, and the calm, bucolic fantasy world it creates. This was my first exposure to Beethoven and the world of Greek mythology and I still hold plenty of nostalgia for it. I admit it’s not perfect, and not just for the reason you think. Out of all the Fantasia pieces, this is the one whose quality is closest to an original Disney short than a theatrical feature. It’s a bit more cartoony and there’s some notable errors, particularly when the baby Pegasi dive into the water and emerge different colors. Also, Deems and the animators flip between using the gods’ Greek and Roman names, and the stickler in me wants them to pick a mythos and stick with it. But for all it’s flaws it’s still among my very favorite Fantasia pieces and nothing can change that.

The Dance of the Hours from the Opera “La Giaconda” – Amilcare Ponichelli

Like I said before, Disney was a master of the art of anthropomorphism. And nowhere is this more true than Dance of the Hours. Animals portray dancers symbolizing morning, noon, dusk and evening – only they’re the most unlikely ones for the job. The characters of our penultimate act are as cartoony as any you’d see in a Disney short from the era, but what puts the animation above it is the right balance of elasticity and realism. The exaggeration is on point, but there’s enough heft and weight to the animals that I can buy them being grounded in (some semblance of) reality. The animators studied professional dancers and incorporated their moves and elegance flawlessly. Half of the comedy derives from this.

The other half comes from how seriously the mock ballet is treated. We’re never informed who the dancers will be, leading anyone who hasn’t seen this before to assume they’re people. The ballet itself is a parody of the traditional pageant, but the performers carry on with the utmost sincerity. It doubles the laughs when it comes to moments such as Ben Ali Gator trying to catch Hyacinth Hippo in a dramatic pas de deux or an elephant getting a foot stuck in one of her own bubbles as she prances around. The familiar lighthearted refrain of the dance provides wonderful contrast to the caricatures on screen, particularly if you recall its other most famous iteration beyond Fantasia.

No one ever told me Camp Grenada was this Arcadian or zoological.

Morning begins with a troupe of uppity ostriches in ballet gear waking up, exercising and helping themselves to a cornucopia of fruit for breakfast. They fight over some grapes only to lose them in a pool. Something bubbles up from beneath and the ostriches run away in terror, but it’s only the prima ballerina of the piece, Hyacinth Hippo. She prepares for the day with help from her handmaidens and dances around a bit. Then she lies down for a nap, but no sooner do her ladies in waiting leave than some playful elephants come out of hiding and dance around Hyacinth unawares.

Elephants blowing bubbles in a Disney feature…nah, it’ll never catch on.

The elephants are blown away by a gust of wind (must be a really strong breeze), and with the coming of night a sinister band of crocodiles sneak up on Hyacinth. They scatter at the sudden arrival of their leader, Prince Ben Ali Gator, who immediately falls in love with Hyacinth. Surprisingly, the feeling is mutual.

I’m calling it – first body positivity romance in a Disney flick.

The climax of the piece has the crocodiles returning to wreak havoc on the palace and pulling the ostriches, elephants, and hippos back into a frenzied dance which brings down the house.

No bones about it, Dance of the Hours is a comic masterpiece and one of Fantasia’s crowning jewels. And the moment it ended was always the signal for younger me to stop the tape and rewind it to the beginning, due to what follows making a complete and terrifying 180…

Night on Bald Mountain – Modest Mussorgsky / Ave Maria – Franz Schubert

At last we come to our final part, two radically different classical works that blend perfectly into each other. And brother, what a note to end on.

Composer Modest Mussorgsky passed away before completing his masterwork “Night on the Bare Mountain”, a tonal poem depicting a witches’ sabbath from Slavic mythology. His friend, the great Rimsky-Korsakov, finished it for him while adding his own personal touch. The result is some of the most iconic and terrifying music ever created, and the accompanying animation, with the exception of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, is the most faithful to its source material.

The scene takes place on Walpurgis Night, which is the closest thing Europe has to a real-life Summerween (those lucky so-and-so’s), on the titular mountain. The mountain’s peak opens up revealing Chernabog, the Slavic deity of darkness.

Chernabog is a masterclass in design and form. It’s easy to mistake him for Satan himself – Walt Disney and Deems Taylor both refer to him as such – though considering he’s technically Slavic Satan, there’s not too big a distinction. Chernabog radiates power, terror and pure darkness from his intro alone. You can imagine him influencing all other Disney villains to do his will, essentially filling in the horned one’s hooves. Chernabog was skillfully handled by Bill Tylta, an early Disney animator with enough talent to create characters as diverse as Stromboli and Dumbo. Bela Lugosi, the original Dracula, posed for reference pictures in the early design stages, though Tylta ultimately discarded them in favor of some different inspiration – sequence director Wilfred Jackson as model, and Tytla’s own Czech heritage. He grew up with folktales of Chernabog, which served him well during the production.

“Soon, master. The one known as Jackson shall take up your mantle and we shall feast upon humanity yet again.”

Chernabog unleashes his might on to the sleeping village below and raises the dead from the cemetery. A cabal of witches, wraiths and demons gallop on the wind and take part in his infernal revelry. Yet they are but playthings to the evil being. He transforms the creatures into alluring sirens and wretched beasts, sics harpies on them, condemns them to the flames, and lustfully embraces the hellish blaze. It’s an in your face pageantry of pure malevolence that you can’t look away from

Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing #6: “This is too scary for kids!! What the hell were they thinking?!”

I think it’s time we made one thing clear: Fantasia was NOT made for children – or to be more accurate, not EXCLUSIVELY for children. While Disney movies are made to be enjoyed by both kids and adults, Fantasia is the only one who dared to appeal to a more mature audience, and Night on Bald Mountain is proof of that. It had the audacity to explore some of the most darkest, ancient depictions of evil in a way that no Disney feature has before or since. Most importantly, it’s not done for shock value like any random horror movie you could name. It’s meant to show the juxtaposition between the darkest depravity and purest good; combined with Ave Maria it makes for the perfect symbolic climax to Fantasia. Light versus darkness, chaos versus order, life versus death, profane versus sacred, and the quest to master them all are the themes that unify the seemingly disparate sequences, and this finale is the apotheosis of that.

I stated in my Mickey’s Christmas Carol review that Bald Mountain was one of my first introductions to the concept of eternal damnation at the tender age of…I wanna say four, five? It was easily one of the most petrifying things from my childhood, but at least I could avoid some exposure to it thanks to its position at the very end. Though now I adore Night on Bald Mountain for how bold and striking it is. Tytla’s animation, Kay Nielsen’s stunning demon designs, and Schultheis’ effects culminate in harmonious diabolical artwork that’s impossible to extricate from the music. It’s a shame Schultheis left the studio after Fantasia. He met a mysterious, tragic end in Guatemala, right around the time Bill Tytla left too as a matter of fact…

“He knew too much…about the secrets of animation, I mean. Nothing at all about das vampyr walking the earth. No sir.”

Yet at the height of his power, one thing stops Chernabog cold – the sound of church bells. Disney historian John Culhane saw Fantasia during its original theatrical run (lucky so and so…) and he recalled how much having FantaSound affected his screening: when the bells rang, he could hear them coming from the back of the theater and slowly course their way up front as their power grew. It was an awe-inspiring moment that took the Bald Mountain experience one step further into reality.

The bells and the rising sun drive Chernabog and his minions back into the mountain and the restless spirits return to their graves. In the misty morning a procession of pilgrims glides through the woods like a parade of tiny lights, and thus the Ave Maria begins. It’s one of the rare times Disney has gone overtly Christian. Maybe Walt wanted to get back into the God-fearing American public’s good graces after the sorcery, paganism, devil worship and evolution theory we’ve witnessed in the past hour and fifty minutes. It does relieve the tension from the previous turn of events.

The first pitch had the march enter a cathedral, but Walt didn’t believe recreating something people can already see in Europe. So instead they move through a forest with trees and natural rock formations resembling the Gothic architecture of a cathedral. It’s the stronger choice in my opinion. The implication speaks greater volumes than a specific location, subtly connecting nature to the divine. It’s difficult to make out most of the hymn’s words, but regardless it sounds beautiful, especially those final triumphant notes as the sky lights up over a view of the verdant hilltops.

“When the sun hits that ridge just right, these hills sing.”

And with that, Fantasia comes to a close.

Really, what else can I say about it at this point. I keep forgetting this movie came out in 1940. It’s virtually timeless, and a must-see for anyone who loves animation and classic film and wants to jump into either one.

Fantasia was a critical and box office success…sort of. Despite the praise and high box office returns for the time, it sadly wasn’t enough to make up for the cost of putting it all together. Like Pinocchio before it, the war cut off any foreign revenue. And not every theater was willing or able to shell out for that nifty surround sound so the effects were lost on most people. Then there’s the audience response, which is the most depressing of all. The casual moviegoers still viewed Walt as the guy behind those wacky mouse cartoons and called him out for being a pretentious snob, while the highbrow intellectuals accused Walt of debasing classical music by shackling it to animation. The poor guy just couldn’t win.

Fantasia marked the end of an era. Never again would Walt attempt a feature so ambitious. His plans of making Fantasia a recurring series, with old segments regularly swapped out for new ones, would not be seen in his lifetime. There’s been the occasional copycat (Allegra non troppo), a handful of spiritual successors (Make Mine Music, Yellow Submarine), and of course the sequel which I’m sure I’ll get to eventually, but through it all, there is only one Fantasia. And no amount of my ramblings can hope to measure up to it. Fantasia is one of those movies you simply have to experience for yourself, preferably on the biggest screen available with a top of the line sound system. I know it’s a cliche for Internet critics to name this as their favorite animated Disney movie, but…yes, it’s mine too. It opened a door to a world of culture and art at a young age. The power of animation is on full display, and it’s affected the way I look at the medium forever. Fantasia was, and still is, a film ahead of its time.

Thank you for reading. I hope you can understand why this review took me nearly three months! If you enjoyed this, please consider supporting me on Patreon. Patreon supporters get perks such as extra votes and adding movies of their choice to the Shelf. If I can get to $100, I can go back to making weekly tv show reviews. Right now I’m halfway there! Special thanks to Amelia Jones and Gordhan Ranaj for their contributions.

You can vote for whatever movie you want me to look at next by leaving it in the comments or emailing me at [email protected]. Remember, unless you’re a Patreon supporter, you can only vote once a month. The list of movies available to vote for are under “What’s On the Shelf”.

Artwork by Charles Moss. Certain screencaps courtesy of animationscreencaps.com.

To learn more about Fantasia, I highly recommend both John Culhane’s perennial book on the film and The Lost Notebook by John Canemaker, which reveals the long-lost special effects secrets which made Fantasia look so magical.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be spending the rest of the month with my handy dandy garlic, stake and crucifix and pray Bill Tytla doesn’t visit me this Walpurgis Night. I suggest you do the same.

March Review: Fantasia (1940) And now we come to the final piece of Walt Disney's original animation trifecta, Fantasia, and it's one I'm both anticipating and dreading.

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

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kymanss2018 · 5 years

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Gift for Kirbypegasister

Kyle, Stan, and Kenny sat on the ground near the Christmas tree in Stan’s living room, idly exchanging conversation as they waited on Cartman to show. They’d been doing Secret Santa amongst the four of them for quite a few years, ever since an Elementary school Secret Santa class project that ended with the four of them all getting another member of their friend group. It had just become something of an unspoken thing they did for so long they forgot why, like swapping names when there was a substitute teacher or drawing dicks on the back of bus seats. The initial plan was that they’d trade off hosts every year, but in the end, it really just boiled down to Stan and Kyle doing rock paper scissors for it since any time they left it up to Cartman or Kenny, Kenny would forget about it completely and Cartman would give everyone his name…including himself. This year, Stan was the host, meaning they’d spend the night before Christmas sitting around his house basically doing nothing until someone’s Mom called and they had to call it a night. It was all pretty casual…but casual worked for them. Their friendship was mostly based around sitting around and doing nothing together when it wasn’t based around someone fucking up and everyone else having to rush to their aide afterwards, sitting around doing nothing just worked.

Kyle sighed, resting his chin against his fist as he glanced to the window for the umpteenth time. “Every year. Every fucking year we’re waiting on Cartman because he doesn’t give enough of a shit about any of us to actually get a gift before the actual day of the trade.” He huffed, speech slightly slurred as he spoke.

“Dude, are you gonna be in those…like…forever?” Kenny gave a lazy chuckle, leaning close to Kyle and poking him in the cheek. “Because you sound like you’ve got a dick in your mouth and you’re cheeks all swelled up like the dude kicked your ass for biting it with your weird, gross, mangled braceface.” He snorted.

“Dude…stop…” Kyle whined, batting Kenny’s hand away. “They told me it was only gonna be 18 months…so…by this time next year, I’ll only have five months, one week, and three days left.” He forced himself to perk up a little at that thought. “My Mom said it’s important for me to get them now so I don’t have to deal with this shit later.” He shrugged, wrinkling his nose. “It only hurts now because they’re new…and it’ll only hurt every four weeks when I get them adjusted. It’s not that bad.”

“Cosmetic braces, dude.” Stan piped in, raising his beer can in emphasis. “Your Mom talked you into getting cosmetic braces as a fucking 17 year old. That’s kinda fucked up. I mean that’s like…if my Mom told me I needed a nosejob. Don’t you see how fucked up this whole 18 month commitment of yours is? Can’t you like…back down or something? Get them taken out? Your teeth aren’t even that fucked up, this is fucking ridiculous dude.” He chuckled, taking another sip.

“Alright, I know, it’s kinda fucked up, but would you shut up about it? I really don’t want Cartman ripping into me about the fact that my overbearing Jewish Mom talked me into getting braces so that her handsome little man would always have a beautiful, perfect smile. That’s all Cartman’s gonna hear.” Kyle rolled his eyes, glancing between the two of them. “Which one of you even has Cartman anyway?”

“Yo.” Kenny rattled the hastily taped together cardboard box that had been sitting in his lap. “I thought it’d be funny to get him a rock and try to convince him that’s all I could afford, but like…it’s getting less funny the longer we wait, honestly. Kinda feels stupid without actually being able to see the genuine rage on his fat, stupid face.” He chuckled, glancing over to Stan. “How many drinks in are you, man? Kinda weak of you to get plastered before Cartman even shows up.”

“Hey man, it’s my house, it’s basically weak of you not to get plastered with me.” Stan shrugged, raising his can emphatically once more. “It’s only one drink. I’m just drinking it really, really fast so I don’t have to let Cartman know there’s any in the house.” He smirked, tapping his temple. “Get on my level, dude.”

“Ticking timebomb, Stan. Ticking timebomb.” Kyle muttered, rolling his eyes. Even if hosting Secret Santa at his house meant his Mom interjecting every five seconds to see what everyone was doing, he knew good enough not to let alcohol near Stan. Stan was self aware enough to pace himself, at least in good company, but Kyle was generally put off by it regardless. If not for the fact that Kyle couldn’t shake his concern, then by the fact that a drunk Stan meant a Stan he couldn’t spend the evening trading glances with and snickering at anything the other two said. He grumbled, resting his chin on his fist once more and glancing to the window once more. “It usually doesn’t take him this long to either drop in or cancel and ask one of us to drop off his gift at his house. If he bailed on us with no notice he better be in a coma.”

“Dude…chill, that is like, 90% braces talking.” Kenny chuckled, scooting closer to Kyle in order to press his cool drink to Kyle’s cheek. “There, better?”

“…Thanks, Kenny.” Kyle muttered, deeply unamused. Something about the fact that neither Stan nor Kenny were being particularly kind to him about his braces made him dread Cartman’s appearance even more. The concept of Cartman just not showing at all was mildly comforting, but it still meant waiting around for an hour or so doing nothing so Cartman wouldn’t end up complaining they didn’t wait long enough. Just as Kyle was starting to get comfortable with the idea of Cartman not showing, Stan’s front door finally opened to the sound of Cartman hustling inside, acting as though he was in a hurry to get there, with a plastic bag in his hands.

“Jeez, I am soooooo seriously sorry guys, the strangest thing happened. I had my gift sitting on my desk last night, but this morning when I woke up, it was gone…and in its place was a letter saying “I stole your super awesome and really cool gift, from Token.”” He plopped down on the floor, bag in his lap, quite blatantly pulling the recipt from it and stuffing it in his pocket.

“God dammit, Token can’t steal your gift EVERY year Cartman!” Kyle piped up.

“I know, that’s what I’m saying! He CAN’T keep stealing my gift every year!” Cartman scoffed in response, pulling an energy drink from the bag and cracking it open. “Did I miss anything?” “Just all the shitty things we have to say about you that are too shitty to say to your face.” Kenny chucked his gift in Cartman’s direction, landing it in his lap. “Merry Christmas, fucknuts.”

“Yeah, I had you, Kenny.” Stan added, handing the envelope sitting beside him to Kenny. “I didn’t really know what to get so I just went for one of those prepaid giftcard things you can use on anything. Sorry if it’s not thoughtful or whatever.” “That’s hella thoughtful man, I can use it to buy freaky shit online without leaving a trail.” Kenny gave a sarcastic wink Stan’s way with a smirk. “Well…I had Stan…” Kyle passed his gift over to Stan, before slowly side-eying Cartman. Cartman returned the side-eye, unceremoniously plopping the bag in Kyle’s lap.

“Merry Christmas, braceface. I put all of my festive energy into the 5 minutes I spent at CVS throwing this shit together. You better appreciate that shit.” Cartman grinned, before tearing into his own gift without any hesitation or pause to wait for a signal to begin.

Kyle rolled his eyes, before digging into the bag and pulling out its contents. Inside was a cutesy mini-icepack shaped like a cartoon frogs face and a $5 gift card to Dairy Queen. Kyle squinted at the two items, then glanced back at Cartman, who was staring disappointedly at the rock he’d been gifted. “The fuck is this?” He gestured to the bag. “A gift, dumbass, you’re supposed to be grateful.” Cartman scoffed in return. “It’s for your whole braces shit. The icepack is for your fucked up face and the ice cream is for your fucked up mouth.” He shrugged. “Duh.”

The gears in Kyle’s head finally started ticking as to the meaning of Cartman’s gift. He was initially about to rip into Cartman for getting him some random shit from the drugstore, but it was actually pretty hard to find something bad to say about it. Coming from Cartman, someone who had a tendency to rip into him more than anyone else, this was actually kind of meaningful. Kyle blinked a few times, idly looking over the giftcard, before glancing back to Cartman. “Thanks, I guess.” He shrugged, placing the items back in the bag. “Thanks?” Cartman peered back over at Kyle, looking mildly confused. “Fuck, Kyle, you stopped bitching fast.” He chuckled, nudging Kyle with his elbow. “Guess I did a good job this year, huh?” “It’s polite to thank people, Cartman, I’m just being polite!” Kyle huffed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t let that shit get to your head. This is still a total cop-out. You still totally forgot about us like you do every year, and-” “Awwww, are you gonna use it every day and think of me, Kaaaahl? Are we gonna go on a gay Dairy Queen date because of how thankful you are?” Cartman grinned even wider when he caught on to why Kyle was reacting the way he was. “Awww, sick guys, Kyle probably wants to blow me because of how much he loves my gift.” Cartman hooked an arm around Kyle for an obnoxious side-hug. “Gay.”

“Oh my god, would you shut up? All I said was thanks for the gift! I would’ve said the same thing if Stan or Kenny-” Kyle scoffed in response, attempting to writhe away, only to be cut off once more.

“Exactly, Kyle. You would’ve said the exact same thing if Stan or Kenny gave you something nice. Because they’re your friends, right?”

“Exactly, because-”

“Because you LOOOOOOVE them.”

“Cartman would you-”

“I’m just sayin’, Kyle. For someone who claims to hate me, you’re lookin pretty fuckin’ gay for me right now.” Cartman gave him a little squeeze, before letting go of him and picking up Kenny’s gift to him. “See, Kenny gave me a shitty gift, but am I gonna thank him? No. I’m gonna chuck it at his head because I hate him.”

“Hey…come on, dude…no chucking shit at Kenny in the house, what did we learn last year?” Stan piped in with a long sigh, sitting up a little more.

When the conversation turned away from him, Kyle started to blank most of it out. Instead, he picked up the cute little ice pack, giving the frog’s face a little squish. He gave the tiniest hint of a smile, before stuffing it away once more. It was weird…it was just as easy for him to humanize Cartman as it was to dehumanize him. The concept of Cartman doing something even remotely right actually stuck with him for a long time. It was almost kind of heartwarming to know that Cartman remembered half a thing about him in his rush to get him something for the secret santa. Usually when he pulled this with Stan and Kenny he just gave them the first thing he grabbed…this had some thought to it. Maybe it was low standards…but Kyle was genuinely thankful and saw himself getting some actual use out of this gift.

But, of course, Cartman already knew that…and Kyle absolutely hated that about Cartman.

#kymanss2018 #kyman #eric cartman #kyle broflovski #submission

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wistfulwanderingone · 7 years

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“Discovery” - Shortaki Day 5

“Discovery” (link to ff.net)

by Arnold’s Love

My stomach growled as I stood in line. I glanced down at my watch. What was taking so long? I’d been standing in this line for 10 minutes already. My lunch break was almost over and there was no way I could go another five hours without something to eat.

“Hi, how can I help you?” the young man asked the teenager just in front of me. One tiny girl, she couldn’t take that long to order right?

But no, I was wrong. After what seemed like way too large of an order for a skinny-minnie teeny-bopper, it was my turn. I stepped up, glancing at the menu as I did so. Just making sure I was order the right thing, and hadn’t subconsciously changed my mind or something.

“What can I get for you today?” the guy behind the counter asked me.

“I’ll get the double chee—“ but I lost the sentence as I finally met the eyes of the young man taking my order.

Eyes that I knew so well. Mesmerizing pools of green. Deep and endless, searching the farthest reaches of my soul…as if reading every last thing about me and thought within me. Eyes that brought back every last feeling of aching love, excruciating embarrassment, unrequited love, and eventual heartbreak.

“Are you okay, miss?” the young man asked, drawing me back to the present.

“Huh?” I breathed, feeling slightly unsteady, grabbing onto the counter for balance.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, his eyes meeting mine in another deeply, searching stare. That all to familiar concern evident in his eyes made my heart prick inside me.

“Uh, yah, sorry,” I replied, pushing away a strand of hair that had fallen from my ponytail. “Can I get the double cheese with no mustard, onions or pickles on it?”

“So just the bun, burger, and cheese?” he asked.

The guy’s face remained expressionless, but his eyes said so much more. That expression I’d seen before—and knew so well. A look that said, “I think you’re a total weirdo but I’m intensely attracted to you all the same.” A look that had been a part of my every day life for so many, many years. A look and feeling I had never before put into so many words, but at that moment expressed just that exact sentiment. And a look that could bring me back to those days just as quickly.

“Yes,” I replied, hoping the blushing heat I was feeling wasn’t evident on my cheeks. “Oh, and bacon! Can you add bacon?”

This time a slight raise of an eyebrow and that same strangely contradicting look in his eyes. “So, bun, burger, cheese and bacon. Do you want the combo meal with that?”

“Yes,” I replied, glancing down at my wallet to distract myself from those eyes.

“Okay, that’ll be $6.59. For here?”

“Yes.” I handed him the money without looking up.

“Good.”

I glanced up in shock for a moment, only to find a stoic expression on his face and those deep, piercing green eyes meeting mine once more. “Thanks!” I fairly squeaked before rushing to a table to wait for my order to be called.

I shivered in my seat for a moment. No. It wasn’t Arnold. It wasn’t the boy with the cornflower hair whom those eyes originally belonged to. Arnold, the love of my life, a man I’d somehow moved on from…but apparently hadn’t really. It was another man—a much less attractive man, but whom somehow had those same eyes and that same expression in them. That “I think you’re a total weirdo but I’m intensely attracted to you all the same” expression. I remembered that look like it was yesterday. They way he’d say, “whatever you say, Helga” and give me that look and that knowing smile and a kind of befuddled feeling would fill my heart and mind. That blushing, sentimentally sappy, heated, overwhelming feeling that I was currently experiencing all over again.

My order number was called and I headed up to get my food before sitting down again. I’d just started to eat my fries when a voice hovering over me asked, “Everything taste okay? Can I get you anything else?”

I almost didn’t meet his gaze, but now that those feelings were back swirling around inside me I had to see those eyes one more time. Feel those feelings once more.

“No, thank you,” I mumbled, popping another fry into my mouth.

“Alright, let me know if you change your mind,” he smiled at me, heading back to the counter.

I’m gonna die. That’s the gist of it. I’m gonna have a heart attack right here in a retro diner.

And all because some guy has Arnold’s eyes.

A/N: I realize it's a loose interpretation of discovery, but this is a one-shot I've wanted to write for a while. So this is like exactly what happened to me about two months ago at my favorite burger place. And it was literally so shocking and like messed with my brain. First real love, first heartbreak...it all came back because the guy really did have the same eyes as the guy I loved. ugh. And then as I was sitting there freaking out I was thinking about how this would soooooo happen to Helga if her and Arnold never ended up together. So this was born. Hope you enjoyed.

#shortaki week #shortakiweek #day 5 #discovery #hey arnold #arnold shortman #helga pataki #mylife

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dotld · 6 years

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E Pauline Johnson Tekahionwake: Profile.

I am randomly inspired to write an educational post about my reading today. Why? I don't know! Do I need a reason? I thought this was 'Murica!

This is E Pauline Johnson Tekahionwake (1861-1913), who I just found out is on the Canadian $10.00 bill. She's a brilliant poet who also happens to be something of a Canadian Pocahontas. Why, you might not ask? Well sure thing, I will tell you because you also might ask. Tekahionwake is the daughter of a Mohawk chief who made a living performing her poetry for predominantly wealthy white draw-room audiences from Quebec to Vancouver. Her phenomenon reached all the way to London and the Queen herself, who were tickled by a 'rush of red.' Like Pocahontas, to the superficial eye she took on the mantle of 'token Indian royalty' and embraced British-Canadian culture to the point of dreaming of retirement in the British countryside. She is also a very complicated human whose life and legacy has been, in many respects, Disneyfied.

As when one starts to dig through Pocahantas' history, unexplored trials, triumphs and thorns are rife. Tekahionwake, along with writing ethereally sticky verse, was among the only poets of the time in North America- male or female- with the cajones to perform her own writing. Again, this is the 1800's, she's a woman, and she's part Mohawk. E.J.T. was raised in the shadow of a decidedly misogynistic Victorian-Canadian culture as well as a Mohawk culture which didn't encourage female expression and became a travelling poet. Regardless of subtext, that's pretty incredible.

Most travelling performers of the time stuck with the good ol' golds of Shakespeare and Ibson, which, while timeless, were heard a thousand times before by Victorian drawroom audiences (who, which face it, often didn't have much else to do). Tekahionwake performed her own work. She performed half in the regalia of her tribe and half as a member of the British landed gentry, a summation of the dual ideal personae suffusing her life of poetry and exile. She was immensely, explosively talented and, in my opinion, constricted by traditional English forms and the need to make a living performing. She might as well have been wearing a corset of verse.

But her life was no grand coterie- Tekahionwake's great love of travel and meager funds meant she often slept in trains on the way to gigs. She lived hand to mouth and the rigors of her life were often brought forth as explanations of her early death. Despite the claps and grand applause, Tekahionwake had reason to believe that, like less illustrious Mohawks, not only was her history being erased and exploited, she wasn't even making any money out of it!

In fact, much of the prose Tekahionwake wrote in her 'later' life, before she succumbed to breast cancer at age 53, dwelled on a white world which turned wholly (and disingenuously) accepting after displaying mostly spite and cruelty. On other fronts, what was put forth as kindness is revealed to be the ultimate assimilatory cruelty- raising someone as one of your own to the point at which they, at great personal cost, renounce their own heritage, homeland and past, only to be flicked away like last year's shank bone.

Tekahionwake's short story As It Was In The Beginning is a Disney movie which... takes a bit of a turn. Esther, a Mohawk girl taken from her father and mother to a missionary boarding school, is doted on and darling'd, only to be cast out for daring to fall in love with Lawrence, the son of the cassock-frocked man who silk-robed her away. Lawrence immediately (and somewhat simplistically/unrealistically- more indicative of Esther's impression than his actual reaction) renounces his love and agrees with his father- a true anti-Disney twist. The story abruptly ends with the Esther poisoning the boy who abandoned her with an arrowhead left by her mother and slinking off into the night, effectively becoming the "snake" Lawrence's father called her when forbidding their union.

If I read more I may be able to trace E. Pauline's (Intentional? Unintentional?) satirization of the British/Canadian assimilation narrative. This satirization could potentially come into fruition in The Shagganappi, a novella Tekahionwake worked on close to her death. I say "could" because it's not entirely clear this is a satire (although I think to say it isn't a satire might be insulting to T.'s intellect, it may also be consistent with the biopsychosocial profile I sense emanating from her- though this could be a lost path if it is simply, as I also suspect more than likely, a parable built, like a Noah's Ark, for a new generation).

In The Shagganappi, a boy recognized by the governor of the province at his small state school is given the courage to become the first Indian to join an elite boarding school. It is a parable in which many reject "Shag," but ultimately embrace him due to his undeniable merits and heroic acts. Once again the acceptance is hurried, unexplored, and has a wistful air to it.

The overlapping threads with other examples of 'cultural assimilation with the determination to excel and become the best possible example of the culture trying to exterminate or whitewash mine in order to negotiate a place for my own culture within it- or carve one'- are ones I hope to further explore. Ie. several African American stalwarts such as Booker T Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Richard Wright, among soooooo(o) many others. Obviously each example is singular and merits far more thought.

To add some more obviously American immigration examples of this phenomenon, the guy at the Halal cart and behind the Bodega counter. Also, Alexander Hamilton.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far- maybe I'll make a blog and expand!

#alternativeeducation #funmaybefacts literature counterliterature

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melaniepossible · 7 years

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Part 3

Kim Possible meets the Boston Bruins Part 3 By me 3/21/17-4/22/17 Previously on Kim Possible. Feelings. Melanie: I have to see him. I miss him. Before Kim could utter another word, Melanie takes off. Kim: I will never get used to this. Not just for Patrice but for Brad and Tuukka as well. I like Patrice. Why do I feel the same towards Brad and Tuukka? What is going on? First I share a kiss with Patrice, then I get kisses on the cheek from both Brad and Tuukka. This is really not good. Her heart pounds as she thinks of each of the three boys. What am I gonna do? Trying to support. Kim: your heart will know. Later on, showing off her goalie skills. Kim: Melanie's the best goalie in Middleton history. She puts up a lot of shut outs for our team. If you call it that. Meeting between the goalies. Tuukka: can I see you tonight? Melanie: m-maybe. More jealousy. Ron *angry*: stop flirting with the enemy!! Melanie *glares and eyes go black*: my life. Not yours! And FYI, I do NOT flirt! The kiss. Tuukka: sorry about that. Telling the truth about her feelings. Melanie *looks at him without trying to get lost in his eyes*: you see. I like you, Brad and Patrice. A lot. Telling Patrice about her big secrets. Melanie *hesitates*: Tuukka and I kissed. *pauses, shudders slightly and whispers* I have a sixth sense. I can sense who's nearby. Patrice: that's pretty cool. And it's ok. Melanie: that's not all. *whispers* I have telekinetic powers as well as being very agile. I can create storms and I also receive prophecies once in a while. I'm known as the worlds most powerful hero. I was even once part of a superhero team called Team Go. But we don't have to get into that. Not thinking any less of her. Patrice *looks into her eyes*: I don't think any less of you Melanie. The promise. Melanie: please don't tell anyone. Patrice: I promise. Now. It's the next day and it's also game day. Middleton Mad Dogs face the Boston Bruins in a very huge game later tonight. Who will win? Boston Bruins leads the league while Middleton follows behind by a point. Two points for the Bruins could give them a little bit more breathing room from the Mad Dogs. While two points will propel the Dogs into first place. It's a big game between the two divisional rivals. Melanie wakes up to her phone ringing. She looks and sees that it's Brad calling her. As usual, her heart beats rapidly. Melanie *answers the phone, slight hesitation*: he-hello? Brad *joyful*: good morning beautiful. Melanie can't help but smile and blush at that. Especially since she's so used to a lot of people calling her ugly. Melanie: hi Brad. Brad: I hope I didn't wake you. Melanie: n-no you didn't. But you're up early. Brad: well you do know that it's game day right? I'll be going to practice soon with the boys *pauses*. Hey. Wanna meet up for breakfast? Melanie *without thinking*: sure. Brad *smiling*: perfect. I'll be there in a half hour or so. See you then angel. They both hang up. Melanie sits in bed, places a hand to her forehead and shakes her head. Melanie: what is going on with me? As she gets herself ready, Kim knocks on the door. Melanie: come in. Kim *walks in*: wow you're up early. *notices she's a bit more dressed up but still looking gothic, as usual* what's the occasion? Melanie *blushes*: oh. Uh. Kim: lemme guess. One of your boyfriends or all three wanna take you out. Melanie *defensive*: ok first off. They are all NOT my boyfriends. Second, I would NOT date three people at the same time. And thirdly, it's just Brad. Kim *smirk*: wow. You really are making an impression on them. Melanie *scowls*: Kim! Kim *laughs*: sorry. Couldn't resist. Anyways. How was your meeting with Tuukka last night? Melanie *blushes bright red*: oh uh. It. It was nice. Kim: haha oh my gosh Melanie. Your face tells it all. He kissed you didn't he. Melanie *trying not to sound like she's in denial*: no! Kim: heh. If you say so. Melanie: listen. It's not like I'm dating all three of them. Kim: didn't say that. Before long, there's a knock on the door. Kim and Melanie look over at the door. Kim turns around. Kim *teasing*: could this be one of your Romeos? Melanie: Kim I swear to god- Kim: what? Sisters tease each other you know. Relax. Melanie glares at her. Kim: didn't you and Shego do this sort of stuff growing up? Melanie *slight annoyance*: no not really *walks over to the door*. She taught me how to fight at a young age. And not show any signs of weakness. Kim: oh yeah. Hego did mention that. Melanie *stern*: yeah when you and Ron snuck over to the Go Tower without me knowing. Kim: will you let that go? Melanie opens the door and sees that Brad is standing there with a bouquet of flowers. Melanie *startled*: oh. Hey Brad. Brad *hands her the flowers with a sly smile*: beautiful flowers for a very beautiful young lady. Melanie *blushes shyly and takes them*: oh. Thank you. Kim *stifles a laugh*: I'm sorry. Brad: what's so funny? Kim: just that Melanie has three guys after her. Brad: well. She's gonna make up her mind soon and choose me. Melanie *startled*: I am? Brad *smirk*: of course. I'm way better than Bergy and Tuuks. Melanie *raises eyebrows in a "this is awkward" look*: uhm. Alright then. *walks back in the house* Kim: Mel? Aren't you forgetting something? Melanie: what? Brad: it's alright Kim. Melanie's going out with me. Melanie: I was gonna put these in a vase. And come back out. She walks back to her room and isn't within earshot with what Kim is about to say. Kim: soooooo Melanie's been going out with the three of you. Brad: well *places hand behind the back of his head and shrugs* I really wouldn't call it "going out" per se. Kim *leans against the door*: well. What would you call it. Brad: fighting to get her attention. But you make it seem like she's dating all three of us. I don't think Mel's the type that would do that. Kim: oh gosh no. I wasn't implying that. If it sounded like that, I didn't mean to. Brad: ah it's cool. The guys just think that just because they're taller than me, they're more apt to get her attention. And also because they think that all girls want a taller man. I'm a little taller than her. And as you saw the other day, those two are bigger. Kim: honestly. I can't say what Mel wants. You see, this is a big first for me. Brad *shocked*: no way. Kim: yeah. Melanie's not one to express interest in anyone. She's a loner I guess you could say. And complicated. Brad *nods head*: I can understand that. She needs a strong man *puffs out his chest*. Kim *laughs*: funny. Speaking of which, Ron and one other guy, you don't know him. He's a villain. But he's very much in love with her. Brad *short laugh*: looks like I got more competition. Kim: well. You probably will have a chance to meet Ron. He's on the Middleton Mad Dogs hockey team. Brad *stunned*: oh? Kim: you don't have to worry. Mel is NOT interested in him. She really makes that clear. Brad *relieved*: whew. Kim: but. Ron is very much crazy about her. But it annoys her which brings out some of her violent side. *shakes head*. Brad *smirk*: bad girl. I like it. Kim *raises an eyebrow*: riiiiiight. Brad: hey. It's cute. Kim: do you think Mel will be able to choose between you three? Brad: I hope so Kim. She spent time with Tuuks and Bergy. And now it's my turn. *looks at the time* I hope she's coming back. Running on a short amount of time. Was hoping to go out soon because Claude has a pregame skate today in a few hours and I won't be able to see her till maybe after the game. Kim: hold on a second. *runs into the house and calls out* Mel? Melanie *raises voice*: in my room Kim! *hides pictures of her with Patrice and her with Tuukka in her desk and out of sight*. Kim *enters*: there you are. *sees the flowers on her desk* that's a good spot for them. Melanie *slight blush*: oh I know. Kim: Brad is waiting for you. He said his coach has a pregame skate in a few hours. Melanie *face palms*: oh dang. I forgot! I'll go now. She rushes to the door, leaving Kim behind. Kim looks down and sees a corner of the picture that Melanie was trying to hide. She opens the draw and sees that there is actually two pictures. Her with Patrice. And the other with Tuukka. Kim *whispers to herself*: she looks so happy. This is not gonna be an easy decision for her. Outside the house. Melanie: sorry about that Brad. Brad *opens the passenger side door to his car for her*: it's no worries. Melanie: you're sweet. Brad *smiles*: well I gotta be if you're gonna choose me right? Melanie *skeptical*: uh I guess. But Brad. They both get in the car. Brad: yeah? Melanie: this isn't easy for me. Brad: I'm sure you'll know after your time with me *gently takes her hand, kisses it as he looks into her eyes*. Melanie *blushes bright red*: oh. Brad *smiles and starts driving*: you're so adorable. He continues to hold her hand. Melanie sits there, unsure what to think. This is so new to me. No ones ever done that before. Ok Melanie. Stay cool. It's gonna be ok. Brad: we are almost there. He pulls up to a place and parks. Melanie gets out of the car before he has the chance to get out and help her. Even though she doesn't need it. She figures he just wants to be a gentleman and score more brownie points. Brad *sits at a table outside*: this ok? Melanie: ye-yeah *sits down*. Brad *looks at her concerned*: you ok? Melanie *looks up*: yeah I'm ok. Just thinking. Brad *gently*: listen. There's no pressure if you feel like you have a choice to make. I just figured I'd tell you. Melanie *smiles a little and is relieved*: that is good to know. Thank you. Brad: I just don't wanna see you overwhelmed. As the two order their food and soon after enjoy a nice breakfast, Brad asks Melanie if she'd like to go for a walk before he leaves for practice. She accepts. As the two walk, he holds her hand and they end up at a pond that Melanie hasn't been to yet. Brad: did you know there's a pond here? Melanie: no I haven't. Brad *looks at the water*: yeah. I just stumbled upon this the other day. I like it here. Melanie: Brad. I have a question. Brad: hmm? Melanie: what's it like in Boston? Brad *smiles*: it's a nice city. Loud compared to here. But then again. Can't say for sure because I don't know how loud your town gets. But it's pretty nice. We have great seafood and we know how to "pahk the cah." Melanie *looks at him confused*: huh? Brad *laughs*: oh sorry. My b. People from Boston don't typically pronounce their "r's." Melanie: ah. I see. Awkward moment aside, the two of them sit on the grass. Brad lays down, pulls Melanie up on his chest and holds her close. Melanie's heart starts to beat rapidly and she looks up at him. Brad *smiling and gently rubs her back*: hey beautiful. Melanie *blushes*: h-hi. Brad *chuckles and throws his head back a little*: oh my god you're so cute. *looks back at her then gets sad* I don't wanna leave soon. Melanie *lays her head on his chest*: me too. Grrrrrr. What the heck! I really feel like I'm leading these guys on. This stinks. Brad *senses her feelings*: you're not leading us on you know. Melanie looks up again, shocked to know he sensed how she feels. Brad: I can't imagine how it must be like. Kim told me that this is a first for you. Melanie *hesitates*: it is. I'm not used to having these types of feelings. Brad: it's totally normal. Just to let you know, I'm not ALWAYS a bad boy. In fact, I'm actually a good boy. Melanie *smirk*: mhm right. She looks away then back up at him once more and notices his eyes sparkle at her. Unconsciously she smiles. He smiles back and they snuggle in a little closer. Without warning, Brad gets closer, brushes his hand softly across her cheek and pulls her face gently towards his, and before Melanie has a chance to react, his lips touch hers. Her eyes widen as he pulls her even closer, not letting up on the kiss. Oh my god. They're all good kissers. After a few moments, Brad pulls back. Brad: you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. Melanie *blushes*: oh I'm sure. Brad *brushes away a piece of her hair to the side and smiles*: you're so pretty. Melanie *looks away shyly*: you, Patrice and Tuukka all say that. Brad: I mean it the most *kisses her forehead*. Melanie: I'm not used to being called pretty or beautiful or anything of that nature. Brad *tilts her head up and gazes softly at her*: you are though. Melanie *stammers as she gets caught up in looking in his eyes*: uh. Oh. *snaps out of it and looks away* yeah I'm used to being called ugly. Brad *softly and continues to gaze into her eyes*: my god. You are NOT ugly. Melanie *looks back up*: r-really? Brad *smiles*: really *quickly gets close to try and steal another kiss*. Melanie tries to look away but she gets caught up in looking into his eyes. He kisses her once again but this time, he holds onto her so she can't let go. Her eyes widen at how quick he was to steal another kiss. Her eyes flutter and her struggles to get away from his grasp become weaker and weaker. Eventually she closes her eyes and senses that Brad must be smiling at the fact that she's letting herself go. Brad *mumbles in between kisses*: you do realize I'm not letting you go. Melanie *almost under his spell but still tries to stay conscious of what's going on*: oh. Really? Brad *pulls her in more*: mhm *continues to kiss her* you're a great kisser. I want more. Melanie *turns bright red and feels his arms pull her in all the way and notices she's laying on his chest*: oh my. Brad ignores her comment and continues. He smiles, knowing that he might get Melanie under his spell and possibly be able to convince her that he's the man for her. Not long after the flood of kisses began, Melanie just now realizes that Brad's been trying to get her to make out with him. I wish I was doing this with Patrice. Unfortunately for her, she ends up thinking that Brad is him and she starts to heat up with her kisses. With a smirk, Brad doesn't show any signs of letting up. Time goes by slowly for the two but eventually, the make out session draws to a close. Brad's phone starts to go off. Brad *pulls away, takes out his phone, and sad sighs*: aw man. Melanie *sits up and rests head on his shoulder*: what is it? Brad *shows her the time*: I have to go. Melanie *looks*: wow. Time flew. Brad *sad sighs again*: I really wanna stay. I'm having fun with you. Melanie: really? Brad *sly smirk*: oh yeah. I especially enjoy your kisses. You seemed to really get into it later on. Melanie flushes bright red. I cannot tell him that I was thinking about Patrice at that time. And that was why I acted as if I went for the kill. Melanie: oh. Right. The two stand up and stretch after laying down for quite some time. Brad *kisses her forehead*: we might as well get ready to leave. Melanie *looks away shyly*: ye-yeah. I don't want you to be late. Brad *tilts her head back over to face him*: I won't be *steals yet another kiss*. Melanie gets startled as he kisses her yet again. He gently takes her arms and places them around his neck and then places his arms around her waist. He pulls her in and doesn't show signs of letting go. Melanie *trying to pull back*: Brad. The. Time. Brad *pulls her in*: I don't care *kisses her more*. Melanie *muffled from his lips on hers*: but? Brad doesn't pay any attention to her. He is enjoying himself too much to let her go. But this make out session is cut short when Brad's phone starts ringing. He lets out a groan and pulls out his phone. He pulls away and notices that it's Patrice calling. Brad *answers the phone*: hey man. Melanie blushes but listens in on the conversation. She can only make out so much of who's on the phone with Brad. But, she eventually recognizes Patrice's voice and she smiles. Brad: yeah. I'll be on my way. Patrice: it's a pregame skate bro. You HAVE to be here. Brad: I know I know. I'll be right there. Patrice: ok. I'll see you in a bit. Brad: ok. He hangs up and looks at her. Brad *confused*: why you smiling like that? Melanie *snaps out of it*: huh? Brad: you ok? Melanie: well uhm. You know I like all three of you. Brad *shocked*: you mean my kisses weren't enough to convince you? Melanie *looks away shyly*: well. *pauses* it's gonna be tough cuz both Tuukka and Patrice have kissed me. Brad *shocked still*: oh. Oh I see. Melanie *runs to hold him*: I still like you too. Brad *slight smile and wraps his arm around her*: well I'm glad to hear that. But I'm assuming this is gonna be really tough for you to make a decision. Melanie: if I make a decision. Brad *looks at her*: "if?" Melanie: well yeah. I'm having a hard time deciding. Brad *kisses her forehead*: I'm not mad at you ok. Melanie: ok. Brad: uhm. Do you wanna watch the boys and I have our pregame skate? Thinking she'd love to, she realizes that she has to head home and go with Kim for cheer practice. Melanie *sadly*: I would but I can't. Brad: hey. Don't be sad. You coming to the game tonight? Melanie: of course I am. Brad *smiles*: good. I'm glad. He brushes his hand across her cheek. Brad: you ready? Melanie: yeah. He gently takes her hand and they walk back to his car. As he starts driving, he still holds her hand and smiles. Brad: I hope you had a good time. Melanie *blushes*: I. I did. Flashing a smile, he kisses her hand. Brad: me too. He pulls up to her house and sadly lets her hand go. Brad *looks down*: I don't wanna say bye. Melanie: it's not good bye. You'll see me again. Brad *looks at her and smiles*: true. And I'm glad to hear that. He gently places his hand under her chin and kisses her again. The kiss only lasts a few seconds before Brad pulls away. Brad: I better get going. Melanie *gets out*: yeah. *shuts the door and walks around the car and faces him*. Brad *looks up at her and smiles*: can I ask one more thing? Melanie: what's that? Brad *blushes*: can I get a good luck kiss? Melanie *blushes*: again? Brad *teases*: again? What you mean again? Melanie: you've kissed me a ton today. Brad: I know but those weren't good luck kisses. Melanie blushes even more and stays put. Brad *looks longingly into her eyes, smiles her favorite smile, and pleads sweetly*: please? Melanie *slowly walks over*: I guess that's ok. Brad *smiles*: good. They both kiss yet again but while this is happening, they are unaware that they are being watched. Kim has come out of the house to get her car warmed up and happens to stumble upon the two kissing. Kim *whispers*: oh. My. God. After a short time, Melanie pulls back. Melanie: you better get going. You're probably late. Brad *looks at the time*: yeah. But you know. It's totally worth it. I'll see you tonight *reaches for her hand and kisses it* good bye beautiful. Melanie: see you later. *pauses* handsome. Dang it. I did it again. Brad *smiles*: awww you're so sweet. I'll see you later. He lets go and drives off. Melanie watches until his car disappears. Once that happens, she turns around and heads up the driveway. She is startled when she hears someone clearing their throat. She looks up and sees Kim. Melanie *startled*: oh. Hey Kim. Kim *raises an eyebrow*: how was "breakfast?" Melanie *blushes*: it. It was good. Kim *eyebrow still raised*: uh huh. Melanie *blushes still*: it was! *gets ready to walk into the house*. Kim: I saw that you know. Melanie *stops dead in her tracks and still bright red*: s-saw what? Kim *pulls her to face her*: you and Brad kiss. Melanie *turns redder*: oh. Kim: I thought you liked Patrice more? Melanie *looks down*: I. I do. I still do. But. But it just happened. Kim: oh don't give me that. It looks like you two made out. Melanie tries her best not to give anything away. Melanie: we. We didn't though. Kim *not believing her but doesn't press*: ok. Get your stuff ready. We have to go to cheer practice. As Kim and Melanie enter the gym, they notice that all the other cheerleaders are making their way out onto the floor. Of course, Kim's rival Bonnie is making herself noticed. Melanie stands beside Kim and gives her world famous death glare to keep Bonnie from saying anything to Kim. Kim *looks at Melanie and shakes head*: can you not give your death glare please? Melanie *still glares at Bonnie*: why? It stops her from being nasty to you. Plus she's scared of me *smirk*. Kim *sighs*: I know but still. We all need to work together and get along. That means no death glares. Melanie *scoffs*: fine. The two head into the girls locker room and get ready. Melanie's phone goes off. She takes it out and smiles as she sees who texted her. Melanie *holds her phone to her chest, smiles, whispers and love sighs*: oh my love. One could guess who texted her. Kim: Melanie? Melanie *snaps out of it*: yeah? Kim: you ready? Melanie *quickly texts Patrice back*: yeah. I'll be right out. She quickly runs out and joins Kim. Kim: let's go. The two join the other cheerleaders and begin practice. Melanie tries her best to stay focussed and follow along. But she becomes distracted and falls behind. Kim *to Melanie*: are you ok? You're not yourself. Melanie: yeah I'm ok. Let's just continue. The other cheerleaders shrug and continue on. After about two hours, Kim feels that the squad is ready for the big game tonight. Tara *squeaks*: oh my gosh. I'm so excited. Bonnie *scoffs*: oh get a grip Tara. Tara: what? This is a big game. I can't help but be excited. Kim: yeah Bonnie. Bonnie *scoffs and walks away*: whatever. As long as Brick scores tonight and wins. Before anyone else could comment, Kim looks at the corner of her eye and sees Melanie running towards the locker room. She follows her inside. Melanie *takes out her phone and sees that all three guys texted her*: oh my god. Kim: what? Melanie *startled and looks up*: oh my god Kim you scared me. Kim: you going to be ok tonight? You were very distracted. Melanie *puts her phone down*: yeah. I'll be ready Kim. Kim: as long as you're gonna be ready. I know your boys will be there, watching. Melanie *bites lip and clutches phone tightly*: I know. Kim *places a hand on her shoulder*: hey. It's gonna be ok. You got this. Just try not to pay attention to them. I know it'll be tough but you can do it. Melanie: I know. As practice wraps up, Kim and Melanie wait for Ron to come back from his practice. He staggers into the gym and collapses onto the floor. Kim *runs over to help him*: Ron! You ok? *to Melanie* you could help you know. Melanie *sarcastic*: oh really? I didn't know that. Kim *scowls*: Melanie. Ron: it's ok Kim *gets up*. Kim: how was practice? Ron: oh my gosh I'm so sore. But it was alright. Barkin was really hard on us. And he's hoping we can pull off a huge win tonight. It's gonna be tough. Melanie keeps her mouth shut. This is definitely gonna be a tough game. Game time. Kim and Melanie get themselves ready for the big game. Kim: ready to go Mel? Melanie: yeah. Kim: come on. We gotta get there before the game starts. Melanie tries to keep cool as they head off to the arena. Oh man. This is not gonna end well. As Kim parks the car, they walk out and head inside. They see that everyone is here. Melanie tries her very best not to show any signs of anxiety. Once everyone is finished getting ready, they all stand by the door and wait for the announcer to call them out. Kim: is everyone ready? Squad: yes Kim. They stand by and wait. They all take notice that the Bruins and the Mad Dogs are on the rink, warming up. Not long after, they all head towards their respective benches. Announcer: alright everyone. Put your hands together for your Middleton Mad Dog cheerleaders! The crowd cheers. Kim: ok guys. Let's go. Melanie tries her best not to show any emotion as she follows Kim out to the rink with everyone else following suit. They take to the rugged area of the ice. Melanie looks over at the Bruins bench and sees Brad, Patrice and Tuukka looking over. Oh no. I hope they don't see me. On the Bruins bench. David P.: hey guys. Isn't that Melanie out there? Brad: huh? David P.: look *points to her*. Patrice: oh my god. It is. Tuukka *eyes widen*: wow. I didn't know she was a cheerleader. Brad: yeah. I didn't know either. *to Patrice* did she tell you? Patrice *shakes head no*: she didn't. Zdeno: don't lose focus guys. I know you all like her. Brad: pfft. We got this Z. Tuukka: I'm ready. Torey *chuckles*: oh my god Brad. *laughs* you're really enjoying yourself. Brad *looks at him*: what? She's a cheerleader. David P.: a very pretty cheerleader. Brad *turns to face him*: eyes off Pasta. David P. *taken aback*: what the heck man? Not like I'm gonna try and steal her from you. Brad: better not. She's gonna choose me. Tuukka: pfffffffft. Here we go again. Brad: what! She is. Patrice: let's not get too carried away there Brad. David B.: we got a hockey game to win. Keep your head out of the clouds. Brad: yeah yeah yeah. Anton *smiles*: she's so pretty. Everyone stops and stares at him. Anton *startled*: what? Tuukka *chuckles*: she is. David P.: aaaaand cue in the blushing crew haha. Anton: I'm not blushing. Tuukka: me either. David P.: not yet. But you will soon. Back on the ice. Melanie looks over at the bench and notices some of the guys staring at her. She tries her best not to notice but at the corner of her eye, she sees one of them blowing her a kiss. As the cheer draws to a close, Melanie quickly heads towards the stands and sits down. Kim: glad that's over Mel? Melanie: yes. Definitely nerve wracking. Kim: but you stayed focussed and that's important. Melanie: and now the game starts. Instead of taking the game period by period of what's happening, we will just take it to the very end. It's less than 2 minutes left in the third period and the score is still tied at 0. Who will score first? Or does it go straight to overtime and or possibly a shootout? Kim: boy. This is a very intense game. Melanie: it is. Kim cringes when she sees Ron getting checked by one of the Bruins players. Kim: ouch. Melanie: I bet Ron's gonna want to drop the gloves. But it would be funny. Kim *ignores the last comment*: that wouldn't be good. Melanie: no it wouldn't. They notice that Ron is slow to get up but he does and resumes playing. There are a number of good scoring chances but no one is able to cash in on either side. Both goalies are standing on their heads. Melanie looks up at the clock. Melanie: looks like they're going into overtime. Kim: and one of the teams is gonna get a shutout. Melanie: yeah. The buzzer sounds and both teams head into their locker rooms. Each coach going over the game plan for overtime. Melanie: both teams look great though. Too bad they can't award points to both teams. Kim: oh I know. Any idea who you wanna be with? I know that's random. Melanie: I. I don't know yet Kim. After a while, the two teams come back out and head back on the ice. The crowd really gets into it. The buzzer sounds and overtime begins. Kim: wow. Ron looks really good out there. Melanie *scoffs*: pfft. Kim: oh come on Mel. Melanie *sarcastic*: sports are never his strong suit. You know that. Kim: but he looks good now. *sees him attempting to deliver a check* wow. Melanie: that was weak. Everyone is at the edge of their seats as one of the Bruins players goes on a breakaway. Melanie: oh my god. She holds her breath as she watches the puck get lifted and goes in on the short side. Bruins win it in overtime. Kim: dang. That was so close. I know they have another match up in the future. Melanie: yeah. In Boston. Kim: hopefully they'll win that game. 3 alternative endings with Melanie choosing to be with one of the players on the Bruins team

#kim possible

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