#haven't watched the film since it came out for emotional reasons

[kanansdume]

I've recently been watching these very interesting Star Wars video essays on YouTube (yeah I know, a rare breed) and it brings up these comments Lucas has made about how he views Star Wars as almost like a silent film in terms of how important the visuals are to him in comparison to the dialogue. But this essay also points out how important Lucas finds all of the "rhyming" moments in his trilogies and the way he utilizes them to remind you of something else for emotional or thematic reasons. And there's so many of them, both in visuals and in dialogue, and it's interesting to consider how important this is to him, the repetition for a purpose as well as the storytelling through visuals above everything else and then to look at Star Wars since the Prequels came out and realize how little has really been able to match up to those ideals since then.

The ONLY thing that's come out since the Prequels that I think really hits these two things the same way is, in fact, Andor. One of the things I noticed about the way people discussed Andor as it was airing in a way I haven't really seen for any of the other shows or films was the visual SYMBOLOGY. So many times I saw people noticing the Imperial cog everywhere, from the aerial shot of Narkina 5 as the prisoners escape to the architecture of Mon Mothma's house. There were people picking up on the use of items in Luthen's shop that are familiar from other things to give this idea that Luthen is from another time, he's attempting to preserve this world he lost, that if you're not looking closely enough you won't notice what he's really saying or doing with this shop. The color choices for the different locations and people got analyzed because the people involved spoke about how they intentionally utilized color to SEND A MESSAGE about the characters and the world. We know that the people who made the costumes and sets really worked hard to treat Star Wars almost like a period drama and study the history of the franchise as if it were a real place so that the things they came up with felt like they belonged in this world everyone knows so well even if it's completely new. And of course there were all of the myriad references to things from Rogue One, the constant repetition of "climb", the sunset on the beach, etc.

Nearly EVERY SHOT in this show was created with so much intention behind it in order to say something meaningful about the characters, the world, this specific story they're in, and the overall saga of Star Wars itself. It's insane how much greater impact this show was able to achieve through the incredibly careful usage of visual symbols and thematic repetitions, much like Lucas did before them. It feels like they didn't just study the history of the galaxy far far away, but they studied the history of STAR WARS and what Lucas was trying to do and say with this story. They peeled back his onion a bit more and were able to create something that really has that same visual feel even when it's not created for a child audience. It also is experimenting with its narrative style through its structure and through Cassian's character being allowed to be somewhat more reactive than proactive, and while that didn't work for everyone, it does feel like it's following in Lucas's footsteps of experimentation through Star Wars. Push the boundaries of what Star Wars is and can be and what you can say with it.

But this only works because they peeled the onion back enough to TRULY understand all of the messages Lucas was sending with it. They got the heart of Star Wars and despite its lack of space wizards, despite the lack of most major characters in the Saga, this was a show that honestly got the message more than just about anything else Star Wars has put out since the Prequels. The choices between selflessness and selfishness, the themes about how you always HAVE to make a choice even when it feels like you don't have any (sometimes ESPECIALLY when it feels like you don't have any), and how important it is to make sure to choose the path of compassion above everything else. The themes of connection to others, the symbiotic circle and the impact even the smallest person can have on world around them, it's RIGHT THERE and it's CENTRAL to Andor's storyline.

So yes, it experiments a little with narrative structure, but it's possibly the most Star Wars thing to exist Revenge of the Sith because it honestly truly GETS what Star Wars was about, both in its themes and in its filmmaking. A lot of people said that Andor didn't feel like Star Wars to them, usually because of the lack of space wizards and the fact that it's not a story aimed at children. But to me, Andor is EXACTLY what Star Wars is and has always been. They're stretching the boundaries of what Star Wars can be, but it's saying the exact same things Star Wars has always said, it's just saying it slightly differently. This doesn't feel like fanfiction to me, not really. Unlike things like the Mandoverse or the books, Andor isn't just taking some of the toys out of the sandbox and going to play with them somewhere else. Andor is IN that sandbox. It's building a slightly different sandcastle, but it's still within the sandbox, using the same sand that Lucas did.

#star wars #andor #star wars andor #i GET why some people feel like andor isn't star wars #but quite honestly that feels like not just a superficial reading of andor but a superficial reading of star wars as a whole #the only other show to come anywhere near andor's level was the obi-wan kenobi show #there's tons of visuals that are intended to link back to both the pt and the ot #from obi-wan and leia's costumes to things like the fire obi-wan is burned in and that flashback scene #i'm placing andor above owk still because i think andor takes it an extra level higher but owk is also in that sandbox #owk just got stuck with the fucking volume and the disadvantage of going from a movie to a miniseries #but it did far better with those disadvantages than just about anyone else and still told a VERY star wars style story #the fact that it feels like the prequels is exactly why everyone hated it #and it's exactly why i loved it and think it's the 2nd best thing to come out of star wars since rots #i'll give 3rd place to rebels since it tries once or twice to do some visual and dialogue repetition #but those kinds of things aren't something i see analyzed about rebels all that much tbh #everything else is just fanfic that made a profit #some of it is really BAD fanfic that thinks a cameo is the same as a visual motif. it's not. they suck. stop doing them.

[supernovafics]

series masterlist | last part — next part

pairing: modern!actor!steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: 2.7k words

warnings: asshole!steve, explicit language, mentions of alcohol

summary: somehow your life becomes equivalent to a friday the 13th type of horror movie. there's no serial killer or any murders happening, but the day is full of so many problems that it feels like you'll never get out of this shitstorm

CHAPTER TWO | ❝𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆❞

It had to have been because of something you’d done in a past life. Perhaps you were a murderer or committed other horrific crimes. 

In your head, that was the only thing that could explain why today had been the shittiest and most hectic day you’d probably ever had. And even though you were only halfway through this godforsaken Friday, you knew that nothing would ever be able to top it. 

You were hit with issue after issue, and when you solved one thing it seemed as if three more popped up. It felt like a fucked up game of whack-a-mole. 

And just when you thought you could finally have somewhat of a breather, you were bombarded by a production intern bawling her eyes out. She had made a mistake earlier that day that she was still feeling pretty emotional about; she put the wrong time on the call sheet for Monday and printed and handed out copies with the typo. It wasn’t that big of a deal or the most detrimental mistake that could’ve been made— in fact, with one quick announcement and some reprints the problem had been fixed— but you could understand why she was upset about it. 

“It’s okay, alright? Please stop crying, Hannah.”

“I’m sorry,” She said with a sniffle. “I just really wanna do a good job and I know I haven't been, and I really don’t wanna get fired.”

You were about to reassure her once again but you were interrupted by a PA tapping your shoulder to grab your attention. 

“Hi, sorry to interrupt, but I have Steve’s lunch order that you asked me to pick up,” He said. 

“No, no, you’re fine. Thank you so much,” You said, actually completely thankful for the interruption. You grabbed the outstretched bag from him and then looked at Hannah again. “You only made one mistake. I promise it’s okay, and you’re not getting fired.” 

She nodded and you gave her one more reassuring smile before you rushed off in the direction of Steve’s trailer, quickly glancing through the bag to make sure that the order was right as you sped walked to the completely other side of the set. 

“You’re late,” Was the first thing he said to you when he opened the door. 

You briefly glanced down at your watch; 12:05pm. You were only five stupid minutes late, but of course he was annoyed at you. “The day has been really hectic and–”

He shook his head at you before you could finish. “I don’t really care.”

There was a lot you wanted to respond back with, but you held it back.

“Got it,” You said instead as you handed him his food and started walking away before he could close the door in your face. 

It had only been two weeks since filming started and it was pretty clear that neither of you liked each other. He definitely didn’t like you, for reasons that you assumed were because he didn’t like anyone and he was somehow physically incapable of being nice. And in return, you decided to just not like him back because you couldn’t care enough to do anything to try and make him like you. Mainly because trying to do so felt like an impossible feat in itself, and also because you quickly came to the decision that he didn’t deserve your genuine niceness. 

Barely a minute after you’d walked away from Steve’s trailer, you were summoned by the lighting department to help handle an issue they were having. It truly seemed as if you would never get a break. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Way too many hours, and a shit ton of more problems to fix later, you were finally home. And after the longest shower ever, you were sitting on the couch in your living room, a bowl of freshly popped popcorn on your coffee table in front of you next to a bottle of wine that was moments away from being opened. 

Your plan was to watch the worst reality TV show you could find and laugh at it until you fell asleep, and you knew that because of how exhausted you were from the day it would probably happen within the hour. And you didn’t even feel the tiniest bit embarrassed that you’d be going to bed before ten o’clock on a Friday night. 

You were only a few minutes into a show called Love on the Mountain and hadn’t even poured your first glass of wine before your phone started ringing. 

A part of you truly wanted to ignore the call because you could only assume that it was work related, and you wanted to hope that whatever it was about could wait until tomorrow, or hopefully even Monday. But, of course, the part of you that could almost never turn your work brain off needed to look at who was calling. 

You regretted it almost immediately when you saw Steve’s name lighting up your screen.  

You wondered why he could possibly be calling you right then, and then as if the universe was simultaneously screaming and laughing at you, you looked around and your eyes immediately landed on the big yellow envelope that contained the script rewrites Steve needed to have sticking out of your tote bag that was sitting on your small dining room table that at most times doubled as a work desk. 

Fuck.

You were supposed to give the script rewrites to him, or at least put them in his trailer before you left for the day, because they were for all of the scenes that were filming on Monday, but it had completely slipped your mind. 

You answered the phone and then shut your eyes. “Sorry, I already know you’re calling about the script rewrites. It completely slipped my mind. When do you want me to give them to you?”

“I would’ve really liked them hours ago,” He said, the annoyance unsurprisingly very clear in his tone.

This was the only time you could actually understand him being annoyed at you, but hearing how pissed he sounded still managed to piss you off just the same. 

You inwardly let out a long breath. “I can bring them now.” 

He didn’t say anything in response to that, and instead hung up. Barely a minute later, your phone pinged with a text from him that was simply his address. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

When you walked into Steve’s apartment building, you were met with the sight of a man standing behind a front desk. It was always easy to tell that you were at an expensive apartment building in LA when the lobby felt eerily similar to a hotel. Your building didn’t even have a lobby; there was just a hallway that led to some insanely small elevators. 

You gave a small wave to the man and then showed the yellow envelope. “Hi, I have this for Steve Harrington.”

The front desk man, whose name tag read James, nodded at you. “Yes, he told me to expect someone coming to bring something for him. You can go right up.”

“Can I just leave this here with you?” You asked because you did not want to have any sort of an interaction with Steve right then; what you really wanted was to get back home. 

“Usually with most packages, yes. But for this, Mr. Harrington told me that he wanted you to bring it up.”

Of course, he did. And you knew the exact reason why he was doing this was so that he could say some sort of shitty comment to you about this mistake you made since he apparently hadn’t done enough of that on the phone before he hung up on you.

“Is there a bathroom I can use first before I head up?”

James gave you an apologetic look. “Sorry, the bathroom in the lobby is for residents only, and management is really strict about that rule.”

“Okay,” You responded with a small sigh. “What floor is Steve on and what’s his apartment number?” 

“He’s at the Penthouse, so you’ll just press PH and his place is the only one up there.”

You nodded at that before heading to the elevators. On the entirety of the ride up to the top floor, you mentally prepared yourself for whatever Steve would say to you, and you also pushed your need to pee far away. 

Your knuckles rapped against his door in three quick knocks and after making you wait for an unbearably long minute— which felt so much longer than just a minute and almost made you think that you’d somehow ended up at the wrong apartment— Steve opened it.

“Here are the script rewrites,” You said and you held out the envelope for him to take. 

“Thank you,” Steve said, his voice unmistakingly condescending, as he grabbed the envelope from you. It was actually kind of fitting that the first time he ever said a “thank you” to you was in a sarcastic way. “Sorry for making you do your job.” 

Apparently, the mental preparation you’d done on the elevator had been no help at all because his words in that moment irritated you more than anything else he had ever said to you. 

You were at your breaking point for dealing with all of his shitty remarks pretty much every day for the past two weeks and giving him nothing back in response. You’d continuously swallowed down everything you had wanted to respond to his comments with, but right then, it was as if every other annoying thing you’d dealt with from the day was bubbling over, and for once you actually couldn’t hold back. 

“Oh yeah, no problem,” You said, easily matching his sarcasm. “I actually did this all on purpose because today has been the absolute worst day ever and I wanted to make it even worse by talking to you right now. Honestly, the perfect way to end this shitty Friday.” 

You almost felt bad for everything you’d said, maybe that outburst was a bit much, but then for the briefest of moments you could’ve sworn that one side of his mouth quirked upward in something that resembled the tiniest of smiles before he simply looked at you with the straightest face you’d ever seen. It was hard to feel bad for what you said when, at least for a millisecond, he seemed somewhat amused by it. 

The two of you stared at each other for a few moments. You expected him to say something in response to your comeback, but he began closing the door instead. Of course, right then was when your need to pee decided to come back. 

“Wait.” You said, placing a hand on the door before he fully closed it. “Can I use your bathroom?”

“No,” He said and then finished shutting the door. 

“Okay, I’m sorry for what I just said,” You said, making your voice loud enough so he could hear you through the door. It was actually a bit easier to apologize without having to look at him. “I shouldn’t have said it.”

His response came barely a second later. “Still no.”

You were so close to letting go, but you knew that you wouldn’t be able to last on the twenty minute drive back to your place, which could potentially be pushed to thirty minutes depending on how terrible LA traffic decided to be right then. Therefore, you knew you had to keep trying. But you also knew that you’d rather pee your pants than beg Steve Harrington for anything, so you weren’t going to say one “please” to him. 

“Come on. The guy in the lobby said that I can’t use the one down there because of some management rule.”

Steve didn’t say anything to that so you decided to continue. 

“If I die of a bladder infection, you’ll get stuck with a random PA as an assistant for the rest of filming, and you’ll probably hate them more than you hate me. Also, if I die I promise I will haunt you so much.” 

It would’ve made sense to assume that he walked away from the door by then, probably to his bedroom or somewhere else far away from where he could potentially hear anything you were saying. But, something told you he was at least still lingering by it. 

“Steve?”

Finally, he decided to say something. “You’re not gonna leave, are you?”

You almost laughed at how annoyed he sounded. “No, so unless you wanna get blamed for me dying outside of your door, you should just let me use your bathroom.”

You heard something that sounded like a cross between a scoff and an actual laugh, and then moments later, the door opened and he let you inside. 

You refused to admire anything about his apartment as you walked in. Not the phenomenal looking kitchen that had a huge white marble island in the center of it. Not the living room area that had a huge television hanging on the wall and an even bigger white couch that looked way too soft and inviting. And definitely not the floor-to-ceiling windows that provided a beautiful view of the city; you could even see the fucking Hollywood sign lit up in the distance.

There was nothing you admired about his apartment. In fact, you kind of hated the place. 

And you were also a huge liar. 

“The guest bathroom is down the hall,” Steve told you. “The door on the left.”

You nodded at that, avoiding eye contact with him because you didn’t want him to see how enamored you were with his apartment; you were sure that it was written all over your face. 

You headed to the bathroom, which for just a guest bathroom seemed way too big, and it simply became another thing that you upsettingly liked about the place. 

After using the bathroom, you looked in the mirror and were quickly reminded that you hadn’t cared to change out of your pajamas before leaving your apartment, so you still had on a pair of black sweatpants and a gray t-shirt from high school that had faded letters and random bleach spots. The only thing you added to your outfit was a zip up hoodie because it was actually a little chilly outside, and you now zipped it up because you felt embarrassed about your shirt, even though Steve had definitely already seen it. 

You finished washing your hands and then left the bathroom. You saw Steve leaning against the kitchen island, already looking at the script you’d given him. 

“Thank you for letting me use your bathroom,” You said as you started heading toward the door. “See you Monday.” 

He only nodded at you and didn’t say anything else before you opened the door and left. 

When you were in your car, your phone pinged with a text from him. 

Steve: Let’s try not to have anymore fuck ups next week, okay?  

You rolled your eyes at his message. 

You: Sorry but I’m already planning to fuck up your coffee order on Monday so yeah…

Steve: Really great joke.  

It was almost too easy to read the text in his usual sarcastic tone. 

You: Not a joke. 

You were close to leaving the conversation there; putting your phone down and ignoring whatever else he’d say to you as you drove home to finally have the night that you wanted to have. However, there was something about him now seeing you as bad at your job because of this one mistake you made that didn’t sit well with you. 

You pressed the call button on his contact name before you could think better of it. 

He answered on the third ring. “What?”

“I always do my job well, by the way,” You told him. “Today was a shitty day and it was actually a bit hard to juggle your shit with the other shit being thrown at me, so the script rewrites completely slipped my mind, and I’m sorry about that. But, it won’t happen again.” 

You expected him to immediately hang up on you like he did with all of your other calls because none of them ever had an actual ending, but he didn’t hang up. Instead, he simply said, “Okay,” and then ended the call. You had a feeling that that was probably the closest you’d ever get to getting any sort of a “goodbye” while on the phone with him.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

next part!

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fic #steve harrington fluff #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x you #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington series #stranger things fic #stranger things imagine #stranger things series #stranger things smut #stranger things fluff #steve harrington x y/n

[tachineko]

what are some of the best bl's you think released this year?

hi!! so far i think this year has been good with bl's but i think these few are the ones that i think stand out the most.

currently airing

my personal weatherman

this one came as a shock to me. i haven't been keeping up well with mbs' bls, given that "eternal yesterday" scarred me for life. but knowing the original source, i saw the announcement of them doing this and thought, you know what, maybe it won't be so bad. it won't. and i got shocked at how much i love the actors, the setting, and the characters. i loved this series so much that my tiktok fyp page was filled with one of the actor's cute tiktok dances, and i guess that's just the algorithm for me.

kiseki: dear to me

you can already tell from the amount of gifsets i make that i love this bl. initially, i only watched because i know that my favorite bl scriptwriter, lin pei yu, who i've been a fan of since her first bl, was in charge of the series. but as it went on, i was begging for more because of how much the actors, the plot, the characters, and the setting draw me in. it will honestly become one of my most favorites after it finishes airing. the whole thing just gives off that history-trapped vibe that i've been yearning for in taiwanese bl for so long.

i feel you linger in the air

having read the original novel (go buy and read it. it's amazing), i was expecting this one to be just fine. now that a few episodes have been aired, i'm aware that they did some cutting from the novel to fit the lakorn-style series. still, the quality, acting, and chemistry are so good. i wasn't confident at first since it was directed by tee, but then again, you can't always judge a director from their other few series. especially since this one deals with heavy themes of identity, culture-bound issues, and history. so far so good. i think this might be a standout bl for this quarter.

completed

our dating sim

one of the hit bl's that i personally wasn't a fan of at first, but then i saw how good their chemistry was and how well thought out the plot was. i was also shocked that even the actors themselves didn't expect this series to blow up because it was great from start to finish. one of my favorite scenes this year is that one scene where kitae had an emotional breakdown in front of wan.

sing my crush

this one surprised me the most. having released all their episodes in one day, i was shocked at how long they've kept this from us. it was filmed during the start of the pandemic, and it was only given to us this year. such an amazing drama series.

though one of the reasons why i found this amazing was watching it when i was sick, so i guess that contributed to it.

unintentional love story

what i loved about this series is the length and character progression. it just goes to show that k-bl's have the potential to become full-length in the future.

moonlight chicken

another masterpiece made with love. i think there's not much i can say about this series other than it's one of those classic bl's. i recently recommended this to a friend for their first bl, and they loved it and became a fan instantly.

jun & jun

a bit controversial, but i think my own perception of this series was different than everyone else's. what i love about the series is its outstanding chemistry, easy-to-consume plot, and actors' visuals.

to me, this bl feels like thailand's first step in making korean bl. let me explain. one of the reasons why this series has some hint of thai production in it is because of the presence of high heat among the main characters.

now, a lot of people complain about the quality, but to me, it's fine. it's fine because it's not a series that's meant to be taken seriously, and it's also nonsensical for the sake of easy consumption among viewers. though i gotta say that the actors have great potential to be in other bl's as well.

#lee.asks #asianlgbtqdramas #userbilllkin #usernuria #mjtag #userlotad #tuserfaiza #lextag #asianlgbtqdrama #asiandramasource #usertaeminie #usergooseras #tesstag #boyslovesource #tonanons #userpuentalay #uservid

[biitchcakes]

@gammaragee asked: 🎥 - What’s your favourite tv show/movie? // ( accepting )

Okay, strap in ⸺ this is gonna get long I can feel it in my bones HGFDSGK I cannot. . . not talk about both of these things in a stupid amount of detail. I'm literally gonna just go ahead and stick the keep reading here.

Favourite shows ! I'll start off with SCRUBS. Oh, how I adore this show with every fibre of my being. My stepdad, someone pretty important to me, worked in the emergency room, and actually started his internship within a year of Scrubs beginning. So, watching it with him meant it was always going to cement itself into a special corner of my heart, but even with that aside ⸺ the show is just damn good. It's hilarious, it's heart wrenching, it's got a killer soundtrack each and every season. The characters feel so real, no matter how goofy they or the situations their in are at times.

I simply just think of the episode My Screw Up or My Fallen Idol and I feel a pit in my gut, I tear up. Everyone always brings those episodes up when talking about Scrubs, but there's a reason for that. MAN it's some good T.V. I hardly ever listen to podcasts, but the Scrubs rewatch podcast was one I tuned in for.

The way J.D. sees the world, his little fantasy cutaways, his rambles ⸺ hate to relate to the man LOL but boy does that hit home here. I was thinking about including a favourite scene but I couldn't. The whole show is just everything.

Next up: SUPERNATURAL. Man. I actually haven't seen much of the show past season nine. And even then, I haven't watched seasons 8 or 9 since they came out about ten years ago. And there's 15 seasons in total. That said, the first five seasons of that show. . . Holy hell. I can't begin to get into the way that show makes me feel 😭 It's so nostalgic, it's like coming home after a long time away. My one and only tattoo ( so far lmao ) is from that show. I know it can be cheesy at times, but that adds to its charm for me. I love how of it's time the first few seasons are.

The visuals of it, it's so aesthetically beautiful. And God, when the emotional scenes hit. . . they HIT. They punch through to the depths of my very soul.

There are things about both the brothers I find relatable. They're comforting to me, they're like family.

Last but certainly not least, THE GOOD PLACE. I nearly didn't watch this one. I got into it around the middle of seasons three, but I only knew the premise of "woman who should be in hell ends up in heaven by mistake". Which, if you've watched to show, you know is definitely not the only thing that happens DHGKSJ

I won't go into detail because I always want to avoid spoilers about it where I can because the twists the plot takes throughout the seasons are a lot of fun to experience first hand. And, even if you do know, the show is still super worth it. It sent me down my own philosophy rabbit hole for months. Already interested in it before, I've kept up on it since, I watch lectures whenever they pop up.

The finale. . . UUGGHGKSJDHGKS. One of the best on television. That show fundamentally changed me. I am chronically bad at finishing things, but I have finished both Scrubs and the Good Place. Boy am I glad I have. Best finales ever.

Alright this got away from me very quickly HGSDJK

I'll be brief here fhdskjfds so MOVIES ⸺ my top 7 are:

Willow

Meet the Robinsons

Shawshank Redemption

Lo

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Stardust

Here is my LETTERBOXD account.

A list of MY FAVOURITE FILMS.

( bonus ⸺ here are my favourite horror movies, as well as my ranking for animated Disney movies; I'm currently working on a list of Jessica's favourite movies for a post on here at some point. )

#i am so co-dependent on my media i know LOL #my deepest apologies this is the wordiest of the lot today😭 #i just love my shows and movies 🥺 #( o o c . ) #gammaragee

[halliescomut]

Lucid MV discussion

So...1-spoilers (duh). You can watch the Lucid MV here, and I 10,000% recommend you do before reading the rest of this...and these are just ramblings about the theme and ideas that I feel about the MV. I haven't searched out any interviews or anything about the ideas behind it...I'm just going off what I see.

The vibe I got, and one that was echoed by others in a Discord... very much Peter Pan vibes. It's what I thought of right away. The overall story of the video, the visuals, it's all very much classical Peter Pan, with a bit of Faerie prince.

I guess we're going chronologically, because that's what makes sense to me, we start with wide shot of the room where Pornappan is sleeping (that is the actress's name, and it seems weird to just refer to her with no name at all, so we're going with real name, and I'll also just be calling Jeff Jeff).

And we see the open window, with curtains fluttering, which is a visual you will see in many retellings of the Peter Pan story. (This is not, as far as I can tell from a Peter Pan retelling, but it had the vibe, and this post is already gonna take me an hour +.)

The setting itself is also very western fairytale inspired, from the location and decor of the room, to the costumes. All of it has a traditional English countryside manner type of feel, and I do genuinely wonder when and where it was filmed, as it doesn't necessarily look like my own preconceived notions of Thailand visually.

The initial seeing of Jeff asleep on the floor, reminded me so much of the scene in Hook where Peter remembers seeing Moira for the first time that I had to rewatch it because I thought I might be misremembering.

I wasn't. It's not an exact match by any means, but it very much has the same emotional feeling I think.

Just the general awe of seeing a person so beautiful...which like...yeah.

As Jeff starts returning to visit Pornappan, the Peter Pan vibe really solidifies for me, he brings her the fruit and the flower and it's all very innocent and sweet, very reminiscent of the thimble-kiss.

She sort of patches up his injuries, which made me think of Wendy sewing Peter's shadow back on.

And as we go on we see that he stops coming, but we don't know why. In the sort of 'standard' story of Peter Pan, he does return year after year, but eventually Wendy grows up, and she can no longer go with him. What's a very lovely piece of storytelling is how the song's lyrics touch on replaying of memory, and we see that towards the end, Pornappan is remembering their times together as she worries why Jeff hasn't returned.

Then, it was is a bit of a twist, both on the lyrical content of the song, but also on the 'fairy-tale standard' Pornappan goes to look for him, venturing out and finding Jeff asleep amongst flowers and vines.

The final scene, or piece is Jeff beginning to open his eyes, and Pornappan opening her own, showing that it was all a dream, or at least that last bit was, which is just so bittersweet.

But what ended up being so interesting is that because I thought I remembered the similar scene in Hook with Peter and Moira, I rewatched the whole movie (it's available on Netflix, in the US at least) and our final scene with Tinkerbell when Peter returns from Never Land is this:

Which is very much the emotion and feeling being portrayed by both the song and the video. Now, I wouldn't put it past Jeff to have seen Hook, though it came out a few years before he was born. It is considered a classic for many reasons, and generally in the 1990's western media would take a couple of years to find it's way to the rest of the world, barring outrageously groundbreaking movies, which Hook is not. And since Jeff is bilingual, the chances of him encounter a foreign film like Hook are of course far more likely. So, I find the ideas presented in the MV, and they way they so closely mirror many of the moments of Hook specifically fascinating.

Switching gears for just a moment, I already analyzed the English lyrics of the song, as in the lyrics of the English version (you can read that and an analysis of all his English songs here), but as I was writing this and rewatching the video I notices that the translated lyrics are VERY different. Not so much in content, but more in perspective. Jeff is the speaker in both cases, but in the English lyrics he has been left behind, while in the translated lyrics he is the one who left. This matches up with the MV, where Jeff is a Peter Pan/Fae Prince who has been coming to visit Pornappan, but eventually leaves and doesn't return.

This is a screenshot of both sets of lyrics side by side:

In the translated lyrics Jeff is talking about knowing their time is brief, it only exists in the moonlight, and he states being afraid that she will forget him in time, that his memory will fade. And he's begging her to keep those dreams close to her heart, so that they won't fade.

But looking at both sets of lyrics it could almost be two sides of the same story. The English lyrics could almost be Pornappan's perspective of what is happening throughout the story of the MV.

Now there's a multitude of reason for the changes between each set of lyrics, the obvious one being that the pretty vast differences between Thai and English necessitate some pretty drastic changes to allow the lyrics to keep with the melody of the song. Totally makes sense. I would very much have to take a look at the difference in his other songs to see what those might reveal, and I honestly might, just because the very concept of bilingual songwriting is fascinating.

But I hope you enjoyed this little deep dive, it got far deeper than I anticipated. About 1100 words...that's 2.5k words on Jeffrey just today. I hope you enjoyed and you may enjoy this gif of some Jeffrey cake. (We don't get a lot of it, he honestly struggle a bit in the cake dept., but we adore him anyway.)

#jeff satur #Jeff Satur Lucid #Lucid MV #Pornappan Pornpenpipat #Music video analysis #Peter Pan #Wow #this was fascinating

[alj4890]

Choices: A Red Carpet Diaries Fan Fic

(Thomas Hunt x OC) inspired by Top Gun Maverick and taken from my A Second Chance AU

A/N: LOL! Okay. Everyone who looks at my fics/moodboards/etc knows that Jon Hamm is my FC for Thomas Hunt. Blame my eternal love of Mad Men, smh. Anyway, due to the violence and sadness going on in my current TRR Dark AU series and that bit of angsty fluff fic with Drake and Olivia and this last angsty one with Riley, I need some fluff, humor, family life, jealousy; all the stuff I normally write for a breather. And now that my husband is out of the hospital and well again (and life has finally calmed down, LOL) I needed a Thomas Hunt fic! I adore the action, romance, and cheesy 80s aspects of the first Top Gun. And yes, I will confess that I saw Top Gun Maverick twice the week it came out. But this sequel knocks it out of the park storyline wise. And maybe because they added a certain Mr. Jon Hamm to the mix makes it even better 👀 So in this fic of mine, it isn't Jon given the role of Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson. It is our beloved Mr. Hunt much to his wife's delight. And yes my OC, Amanda, is given my love of Top Gun and my own personal embarrassing story of what I used to do when playing the original's love song when single and dating as a teenager 🙈 Those poor guys never understood why I insisted on playing such an old soundtrack each date.

@hopelessromantic1352 @krsnlove @trappedinfanfiction @sophxwithers @twinkleallnight @aworldoffandoms @tessa-liam @flyawayboo @moodyvalentinestories

Song Inspiration: Take My Breath Away

Masterlist

Going Method

"Cut!" Joseph yelled out. He had a big smile gracing his lips. "That is exactly the reaction I was looking for."

Thomas tried to be grateful for the compliment. It has been nearly two decades since he had stepped back in front of the camera. He knew the reason for deciding to act just this once was because of a desire to work with Joseph Kosinski. His fellow director impressed him with many of his previous films.

He'd also looked forward to finally being able to work with Tom Cruise. The two Hollywood icons tried for nearly fifteen years to find a free moment to collaborate on a film. Each time Thomas had a new project, it seemed that Tom was in the midst of filming a new sequel to his Mission: Impossible franchise or there wasn't a part right for the actor.

Everything about this should be perfect.

Though this was a sequel, and Thomas typically detested such, there was something about the script that drew him into the storyline. This wasn't your typical action movie. It had heart. It touched emotions he hadn't thought possible for a story about a bunch of hotshot pilots.

Thomas should be having the time of his life, instead of fighting a burning jealousy that could only be sparked by one person.

His wife.

Amanda had no idea how badly he wanted to punch Tom Cruise in his still too handsome face. Her reaction to hearing there was not only a sequel to, unknown to her husband, one of her favorite films but that Thomas would be taking part had taken him completely by surprise.

As Thomas made his way back to his trailer, he could still picture his wife's face when he told her he wanted her to come on location with him.

******************

A month earlier...

"I want it to be just the two of us." Thomas slipped his arms around her. "Rachel and Stephen agreed to watch Kathleen and the twins." He smiled softly at her. "We haven't had a vacation of sorts alone since our honeymoon."

"You know I would love that." Amanda leaned in to kiss him. "But we can't be away from the children that long."

"We'll have them visit." He responded. "If they miss us too much, then we will have them stay."

Amanda's smile twisted into a playful grimace. "We both know once Rachel and Stephen are here that you and I will be easily forgotten."

He snorted, shaking his head. It was true. Kathleen, Ian, and Elizabeth adored their aunt and uncle. Nothing made them more excited than getting special time with them. Most of the requests when they came by for a visit were for their parents to stay home while they went out with their fun loving relatives.

"Perhaps time away will make them remember they love us too." Thomas teased, pulling Amanda closer. "And give us a chance to show each other our own feelings."

"Don't you dare give me that look!" Amanda playfully scolded.

"What look?" His lips skated down her nexk

"You know very well which look." She met his lips in a long heated kiss. "That look plus kisses like that got me pregnant twice."

"Must be powerful." He mumbled, kissing her again.

"Very." She sighed softly as his hands moved along her curves. "You never told me what type of movie you will be starring in."

"Costarring." He reminded her. "It is actually a sequel to one of Tom's old movies."

Her fingers stilled in unbuttoning his shirt. "Oh? Which one?"

"Top Gun." He tugged her shirt up over her head.

"Top Gun!" Amanda squealed, pushing out of his arms.

Thomas stared at her in surprise.

"I love that movie!" She continued, smiling even more at the notion. "Are you his new wingman?"

"No." His eyes narrowed somewhat over her slight pout hearing that. "I play an admiral over the pilot school, Admiral Beau Cyclone Simpson."

"Really?" Amanda sat down at the foot of the bed. "Does your character, Cyclone, like Maverick or do you disapprove of his actions and attitude?"

Thomas folded his arms. He could tell that all thoughts of romance had left by her simply sitting there being unusually inquisitive during his attempt at seduction.

"I disapprove." He grumbled, meaning it in more ways than one.

"I knew it." She nodded. "With your personality and voice, you would be serious and against Maverick."

His eyes narrowed. "Let me guess, you like his character?"

"Of course I do!" Her laughter over what was clearly a ridiculous question turned into a deep, heartfelt sigh. "Who wouldn't love him?"

So like is now love, he thought to himself.

"Do you think he will wear the outfit?" Amanda asked after a few moments of staring off into space.

"Outfit?

"You know?" Amanda prodded. "The Maverick look: blue jeans, tight white t-shirt, brown bomber jacket, and those aviator sunglasses." Her sigh was even louder than the one that came before it.

Thomas frowned while buttoning his shirt. "I don't know what he is wearing in the film."

"If I see him in person wearing that and riding his motorcycle..." Amanda shook her head with a dreamy smile as her voice trailed off.

"I take it you like this particular look." Thomas said with a sarcastic edge.

"It was my favorite look on a man for years." Amanda cut her eyes to her husband. "Right up until I saw you for the first time in a tuxedo."

Thomas stilled in his actions. "Really?"

She nodded, rising off the bed to wind her arms around his neck. "You made every other look and man fade away once I saw you."

His frown eased hearing that.

She pressed a long, tender kiss to his lips. Her hands slid down to start unbuttoning his shirt once more.

"Will you, by chance, be wearing any navy uniforms in this movie?" She bit down on her bottom lip when his kisses traveled along her neck and shoulders.

"I will." He cocked an eyebrow at her.

Her smile turned flirty. "I can't wait to see how you look in them."

His smile reappeared as her lips crashed back against his.

******************

He should have known when he first saw Tom in the stupid white t-shirt and blue jeans that his wife would be thrilled. He heard her slight oh the moment the actor pulled out the leather jacket and made his way over to them.

"You must be Amanda." Tom held his hand out, a big smile popping up.

"I am." Her own matching smile irritated Thomas. "It is so nice to finally meet you."

As the two talked, Thomas could only stand there both grateful for his own aviator sunglasses hiding his glare and cursing the eyeware to perdition because Tom slipped his on. Then he felt heat flare over him as the two walked toward a motorcycle, leaving him to trail behind.

"I know this isn't the GPZ from the first movie." Amanda said, eyeing the new bike. "Is it still a Kawasaki?"

"You know your bikes." Tom replied with a smile.

"I don't." She laughed. "I only know the one you rode in Top Gun." A blush crept up her cheeks. "When my uncle showed me the movie, it became a dream of mine when I was thirteen to ride on one."

"Would you like to try this one?" Tom asked.

"She doesn't know how to drive a motorcycle." Thomas quickly spoke up.

"Then how about I give you a ride?" Tom put the bomber jacket on, then swung his leg over the seat. "We've got some downtime before the next scene."

Thomas was already shaking his head while his wife was nodding hers.

"I'd love to!" She quickly got behind Tom.

Thomas stood there with his jaw dropped. His wife was asking where to put her feet and then where to hold on for safety.

"Just hold on tight to me." Tom told her, starting up the bike. "And lean into the curves."

"Wait!" Thomas struggled to speak. "Doesn't she need a helmet?"

They didn't hear him over the roar of the engine. Amanda wrapped her arms around Tom's waist, scooting much too close in her husband's opinion to the actor's back, and with a quick nod, they took off down the road.

Leaving Thomas fuming.

****************

Later that evening...

"That was the most thrilling ride I've ever been on." Amanda continued to gush. "I've been on motorcycles a few times in my life, but nothing will ever top that!"

Thomas blew the candles out at the table he had made certain was set for a romantic dinner for two. Their bungalow at the beach couldn't have been more perfect for a second honeymoon. Dinner with the waves hitting the shore in the background should have been pleasant.

If only Tom Crusie was not a part of it.

Amanda began to collect their empty dishes while continuing to talk about her teenage fantasy becoming a reality.

"To have him dressed like that while he drove me around was perfect." She sighed softly. "If only my sixteen-year-old self knew it would one day happen."

Thomas eyed her over the rim of his glass. "Sixteen?"

She nodded. Another blush covered her cheeks. "I used to fantasize that I could be the girl Maverick falls for. Takes on rides at night." Her smile turned a tad self-depreciating. "Kiss."

Thomas took a needed gulp of his drink. He welcomed the burn to keep his jealous words from tumbling out.

"I know what I'm about to admit sounds awful." Amanda tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, eyes averted from her husband. "But do you remember the love song in the first Top Gun?"

"Yes." Thomas cleared his throat. "Take My Breath Away."

Amanda's lips curved somewhat. "Gah. That song used to give me chills. When it plays in the movie, and Tom and Kelly start to make love..." She shifted nervously, "I used to play that when on a date."

Thomas frowned somewhat. "The film's love scene?"

"No. Take My Breath Away." Amanda finally looked up at him. "Remember, I was sixteen and well, I used to close my eyes and pretend the guy that was kissing me was Maverick."

Thomas didn't know how to respond. How had he managed to somehow end up in a movie with the one actor his wife not only fantasized about but also felt the need to tell him every detail of it.

"It makes me sound horrible." Amanda mumbled when she noticed the look of disbelief on her husband's face.

"No." He managed to say. "Like you said, you were young and most likely the young men you were dating at the time could have used an upgrade."

Amanda shook her head with a laugh. "It's true." Her smile was warm once again. "I suppose they too imagined I was someone else."

He doubted it.

She wound her arms around his neck. "So..."

Thomas quirked an eyebrow in silent question.

"We are all alone." She threaded her fingers through his hair. "No twelve year old or seven year olds knocking at the door." Her lips found his earlobe. "Whatever shall we do with this freedom?"

His arms locked around her. Eyes closed tight with the way she kissed him.

Thank God that song isn't playing somewhere, he thought to himself.

Her hands drifted down his body.

And then he couldn't think at all.

******************

The next few weeks went quickly. Thomas found himself gritting his teeth anytime his wife and co-star interacted. When it came time to perform his scenes, he had no trouble at all displaying the struggle of keeping his dislike at bay.

Tom and Joseph praised him for somehow conveying that dislike just below the surface.

"I gotta say," Tom patted him on the back after once scene, "that look you gave me was one that made me pause in wondering if you really can't stand me." He chuckled as he parted from Thomas and went into his trailer.

Thomas had to bite back that he wasn't acting, at least not in the sense he used to.

He was going full method for this role.

***************

During Thomas's last week to film for his scenes, a party was given in Tom's bungalow.

Amanda seemed more excited than usual on the days leading up to it. Thomas didn't ask why she was. The last thing he needed was another reason to be jealous. But the night of the party, he was unable to remain silent.

She was actually humming to herself while putting her makeup on. He couldn't remember a time she was this giddy to go out for a night of supposed revelry.

"You seem happier than usual." He grumbled as he stepped out of the shower.

"I do?" Her eyes found him in the reflection of her mirror. "I suppose I am."

He wrapped a towel around his waist, dreading to hear her reasons.

"I know that tonight marks our final days here." A smile played about her lips as she searched for her powder. "I've missed our home and daily routines. Having the children visit us was nice, but I can't wait to get back to them." She lifted her eyes to her husband's. "Though I have thoroughly enjoyed our alone time."

Thomas felt his dread disappear. It wasn't the fact she was about to see Tom Cruise or anything at all to do with her feelings for his character. She wanted what he wanted. To go home and return to the life they had together was still a shared dream.

He came up behind her, tilted her face up, and gave her a tender kiss. He felt her smile against his lips as her fingers tangled in his damp hair.

"You're making me want to be late to the party." She teased.

"You're wrong." He kissed her again. "You're the one making me want to forget about what time we should arrive." His hands grasped her waist, urging her closer as their kisses became more heated. "Hearing you say that you want what I long for in returning home makes it impossible not to kiss you."

She reluctantly stepped back with a frustrated moan. "We better stop while we still can." Her half-smile revealed how little she wanted to. "It would be rude of us not to be on time."

His hands slid inside her robe, pulling her closer than before.

"We'll be fashionably late." He whispered against her skin.

*********************

Perhaps it was the talk the two had or the fact that his skin still tingled from making love to Amanda an hour earlier, but Thomas was doing better at observing from across the room his wife in deep discussion with Tom Cruise.

Seeing Joseph as part of the conversation also helped him keep his jealousy at a low boil.

When she was pulled away by some of his costars, he decided to find out what they had been talking about.

"I bet your ears are burning." Tom teased.

"Burning?" Thomas asked.

"I think you married your biggest fan." Joseph explained. "She was just telling us how much she loves watching you in the scenes you were in."

"She did?" Thomas couldn't stop his smile from forming.

Tom shook his head with a laugh. "My feelings would be hurt if she wasn't married to you. She was blind to the rest of us as soon as you showed up in a scene." He winked at Thomas. "Thank God you weren't in every scene or else she wouldn't have been able to critique my own performance."

"I'd say that you are a lucky man," Joseph added with a grin, "but then that would mean we aren't as lucky as you."

"And we can't have that." Tom teased.

"No, I suppose not." Thomas mumbled, searching the room for his wife.

"She stepped outside in case you are wondering." Joseph pointed toward the patio door.

The two watched in amusement as Thomas hurried off without another word.

***************

He found her near the water. After all these years, he still loved how she would leave a party to get off by herself to think on things and the people she interacted with. He also loved that she never insisted they remain at said party until the bitter end.

He wrapped his arms around her, smiling as she immediately relaxed back against him.

"I was looking for you."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Looks like you found me."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming out here?"

"You were talking to Tom and Joseph. I didn't want to interrupt." Amanda turned in his arms so she could slide hers around him.

"You," Thomas leaned down until he was barely brushing her lips, "are never an interruption."

She started to laugh when he drily admitted that she was a distraction though.

"I'll try to stop that." She said once calm.

"You better not." He muttered, finally kissing her.

"I'm going to miss this." She mumbled, once more barely brushing his lips with hers. "No interruptions while we sneak away."

"I thought you missed our three interruptions." He pressed her closer to his body.

"I do, horribly." She captured his bottom lip with her own causing him to suck in a surprised breath. "We will have to find a way to have both them and these rare moments alone."

"Agreed." His mouth slanted over hers, drawing a soft moan from her. "We'll have Rachel and Stephen over more often."

"Perfect." She stepped out of his arms.

He cocked an eyebrow at her when she held her hand out to him.

"Where are we going?" Thomas asked, allowing her to tug him further away from the party.

"Back to our bungalow." Amanda cast a coy glance towards him. "I have a very strong desire to be with my favorite actor from Top Gun"

"That better be me you're talking about." He yanked her back into his arms.

"As if there can be any doubt." She looped her arms around his neck. "You were the only one I visited the set for." Her eyes drifted down. "The one I found the most handsome in his uniforms." Her lips curved when she felt his body respond to her words. "The one I couldn't take my eyes off of whenever anyone else spoke."

"What about Tom?" He couldn't stop the question from tumbling out.

Her lifted back to his. "What do you mean?"

"He was playing your favorite character." He reminded her.

"So?"

Thomas grimaced somewhat. "Wasn't he able to steal your attention away from me?"

Amanda tilted her head in a manner that made him squirm as she silently studied him.

"Nevermi--" he started to say.

"Not once." She replied at the same time.

His eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"I said, not once." She returned to her former position of being close against him. "He doesn't even come close to holding my attention like you do."

"But you love Maverick." He reminded her

"True." She turned her head when she heard music begin playing. "Is that..."

Thomas felt his heart drop when he heard the familar song, Take My Breath Away, playing. He'd forgotten that his other costars were planning on using it to tease Tom. He could hear the laughter of the cast mixed with the melody.

Don't kiss me, he silently pleaded. Don't kiss me and think of Tom Cruise while you do it.

Amanda looked up at him with a playful, flirty smile.

"We should go." He mumbled as she inched closer.

"I'd rather have a kiss." She pressed her lips along his jaw. "Beau."

He stilled. "What did you call me?"

"Beau." She muttered between kisses along his neck. She leaned back to meet his shocked gaze. "Or would you rather I call you, Admiral, or your call sign, Cyclone?"

Thomas merely stuttered until her lips met his. He clutched her close when he realized what was happening.

The song, the very one her younger self used as daydream fuel of Tom Cruise while kissing, was now being used to think of his own character. Thomas didn't know he had anything left within him to fall more in love with his wife, but in this moment he could feel it happening.

He took over the kiss, determined to give her one that she would never forget. He tried to imagine how his character would react to having the woman he loved more than anything in his arms. Completely his. He used that inspiration to draw moans from her, glorying in taking her breath away.

How lucky could a man be to not only have his own dream girl to kiss in both real life and pretend?

#choices red carpet diaries #choices rcd #choices thomas hunt #thomas hunt x oc #thomas hunt x amanda #choices the stories you play #song prompt #movie prompts #play choices fanfic

[msfbgraves]

Tag Game

Got tagged by @amorphousgenderlesscryptid and @puella-peanut in two tag games with some overlapping questions, so I am sharing the two. Thank you and excuse the delay; the reasons I take very long to answer tag games is that I almost exclusively use Tumblr on mobile and that isn't ideal for things like this. But I enjoy them so I've started up the laptop!

First ever ship: I was so conventional when I first started shipping at thirteen or so. I took the ships that were given me and what fodder the magazines would give me to indulge them with. I never even considered alternatives, honestly, we had dial-up internet that was hella expensive to use, what was I going to do, read fanfic and explain the bill? Yeah, no. So my first ship was: Romeo & Juliet, from the Baz Luhrmann movie. "My only love sprung from my only hate", gah, in English I did not understand even with the subtitles, which I also didn't understand, it was deliciously complicated, which I had no idea would become something I am attracted to.

Last song: It's All Coming Back to Me Now, Celine Dion

Last film: Knives Out, to better appreciate the Glass Onion on my dash. Good film that took an hour to get interesting to me, so if not for Tumblr, I would have stopped. That one's on you.

Currently watching: I'd watch Slow Horses series 2, if getting a better vpn to pirate with wasn't still on my to do list.

Currently consuming: Tea, I think it is ceylon?

Currently craving: I just ate, so not food, though, very deep, direction in my life.

Currently reading: A backlog of so many Saturday editions of De Volkskrant newspaper. You do learn new things, although why people need a 5 page article to come to the conclusion that young people without prospects, going to underfunded schools, living in bad houses and getting discriminated every time they are trying to get out of these conditions are gasp more prone to radicalisation and the violence that comes with it is, I mean - sometimes I really feel that people are emotional morons. How is this possibly news. Everyone who cares even a little must sense this, if they haven't yet had it confirmed? The Science page is cool though, if hard for me to get through, I understand so little of it. Also the book tips.

3 ships

Cherik

Underrated little thing I love about sweet Cherik: they're so European! I can lampoon all my German and British relatives through them, indulge writing a little German that is critically not about Germany (because I do not live there, actually). Why are there no Dutch mutants, though. Really why. I need to write somebody from either the Holland region who feels right at home with the supposedly rude New Yorkers or someone from Twente who is critically out of their depth in America and curls up with Kurt to watch football although Kurt is German and that has some trauma attached but at least they know at what time you are supposed to serve coffee, and not that Starbucks stuff. (Which is not to say many people from Twente would not love city life. Yet, people who stay to make a life in Twente often do so because metropolitan life is the antithesis of what they value and enjoy).

Silverusso

I started 2022 with the words "Hold up, new fucked up ship just dropped!" It has been a ride, and it introduced me to the potentially even more fucked up - though I do hope for everyone involved never actually realised! - 'ship' that is Cuba and his Teddy Bear. But oh, Terry. I am just so incredibly in awe of how he came to Cobra Kai and made everything about it fit him. If you know how much of the OG cast struggles with the writers' takes on the material, and not only did Thomas make the evolution of Terry from TKK3 to Cobra Kai seamless, Silverusso gives Cobra Kai, and especially Daniel in Cobra Kai, the hook to even make sense: Daniel/Amanda, Daniel's visceral reaction to Cobra Kai, Daniel's darker side (always on display), and of course Ralph has played that since the beginning but you need a knowledge of Terry to completely see what they have been building up to. And then of course the rapport between the Cobra Husbands, giving Marty a new angle as Kreese. Thank you, thank you Sir!

Gradence

Can be this:

Or this:

Even murkier than Silverusso when I want darkness and messed up dynamics, but gives you licence to go adorable with them without the danger of oocness because you have complete freedom to decide who the character of Percival Graves actually is. The only one we spend time with in the movie, after all, is his impersonator. Also, no new canon to mess things up anymore, which is great for me as I lack the ability to ignore canon. It always has to come back into my fic some way, which is very bothersome when, again, the canon writers do not actually care about anything but status and money.

#thanks you lovelies! #fantine rambles

[3rdsday]

📋 OSTs of media you like

Willow I LOVE you for asking this. Thank you for giving me permission to talk about this because holy shit.

S tier:

She-Ra. My god is that soundtrack just absolutely gorgeous. I could rant about how incredible it is just in terms of things like leitmotifs and thematic usage for hours but it's also just incredible to listen to in the first place.

How to Train your Dragon. Yeah it's probably not a surprise since everyone knows how good the soundtrack is, but the hype is well deserved.

Shrek, actually! There are some really beautiful pieces in the score (which was co-composed by the same person who did HTTYD) and people mostly just focus on the pop songs in the movie or the memes. Listen to Fairytale and feel emotions right now.

Doctor Who: Specifically the stuff done by Murray Gold. That man never failed to compose incredible music for the show and the fact that he left was a large part of why I struggled to keep watching starting at series 11.

A tier:

Sonic 06: That soundtrack is so pretty and is by far the best thing to come out of that game. Eggman's theme that was introduced in 06 was so recognizable and iconic that it was reused for every game following 06 (except Forces) and the fact that an instrumental version of All Hail Shadow was used as Shadow's theme was an incredible decision.

Minecraft: I'll be honest the only reason why this isn't getting an S is because I've just listened to it so many times. Aria Math is underrated btw.

Deltarune: Spamton's theme goes hard. I love basically every part of the soundtrack, and My Castle Town is such a fun tune that I just wanna stay in that part of the game to listen to it more.

Fullmetal Alchemist: (both versions) beautiful score to go with a beautiful anime. Not much else to say about it except Brothers (from the 03 version) being sung in Russian is so cool and unique.

Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2: Wow Marvel actually did something right for once! The fact that the themes and leitmotifs established in the first film were carried over and expanded upon for the second movie was such a treat.

B tier:

TMNT 2012: The score isn't officially released which upsets me. Some of the reused stuff can get repetitive, but there's also a lot of things that I wish I had an official version to listen to. Like the scene in season 3 when they're going back to NYC.

Stray: I recently played it and the music is so fucking cool. I think that the way it set the tone and atmosphere of the world was done incredibly well. Good music to write to.

Undertale: Not as good as Deltarune, which is to be expected since it came out first, but still iconic as always. I don't find myself listening to it frequently though.

The Adventure Zone: Started off a bit rough when the music was first introduced, but as Griffin became more confident and skilled in his composing abilities the music started going hard. Really started adding to the emotional beats of the story. Also the Amnesty theme is so good. I haven't listened to the podcast further than the end of Amnesty so I can't say anything about the more recent stuff though.

C tier:

Ironman 1 and 3: Both are decent and I listen to them sometimes, but not my favorites. I feel like if the themes established in the first movie had been used in subsequent films, for example, it would have made things a lot better.

Moon Knight: I think that the score is cool but can sometimes be repetitive. There are some moments that are really cool though.

D tier:

Sonic X English dub: enough said.

#im not gonna tag individual media for this post #also if you have any recommendations for good game/show/movie/etc soundtracks/scores i am always looking for things to listen to #willow. thank you for this #so much

[stellar-waves]

into the fire [my stupid crush reviews]

⚠ warnings: mentions of self-harm and suicide

The ripple effect of one thing leading you to another and then another, on and on until something changes your life…it’s incredible. And sometimes, that ripple effect takes you down a deep dark hole…but only to find light on the other side. 

I finally watched Into the Fire starring my dude Sean Patrick Flanery. Finally. I'd been putting it off for a variety of reasons. Mostly, I was afraid it'd be really melodramatic, maybe stereotypical in the finding-love-through-tragedy kind of way. Spoiler alert: I was wrong.

This movie broke me in the best way possible.

And because of that, I have to share why it did. So spoilers and trigger warnings below if you haven't seen it...

It felt more indie, more artsy, more ethereal. Something the 2005 version of me probably wouldn't have appreciated as much. But I can now.

Flanery’s portrayal was incredible, powerful, and so very vulnerable. The way he played through the self-harm scene was so real...how cutting into his arm was just enough to take the edge off, to create some sort of relief from the battle in his mind. And how he almost instantly had to jump back into reality, putting that aside to help the kids on the beach with their kite.

As the movie went on, I really, deeply felt what his character was feeling…maybe because I have those feelings myself, just from a different kind of trauma. He kept spiraling, lost his job, losing himself, pushing the handful of people he was close to away, until everything came to a dark stop as he swam out into the ocean. But he called for help, opened up more, realized what he was to at least one person, and came out on the other side. 

There was no magical romance blossoming, only people finding comfort in each other, starting a friendship. (Maybe romance comes later, but the film left that open in the end.)

There was no action, no explosions, only the aftermath and the reality of loss.

There was ugliness, uncertainty, and unpredictable emotion.

Everything about it technically was beautiful. Cinematography. Editing. Sound design. Music. Writing. Acting. I wouldn’t change a thing. It's the kind of movie I've always dreamed of making.

The 2005 version of me would have appreciated it to some extent, especially as someone with a history of self-harm. But I think about everything I've experienced since then, everything I've lived through, everything I've become. I had to study filmmaking. I had to experience deep, gut-wrenching loss. I had to cut myself more. I needed my soul to collide with my own handful of people.

Oddly enough, I needed a random Sean Patrick Flanery-shaped ripple to take me to something that would haunt me, remind me what I feel is real…and that I'm not alone.

#my stupid crush film reviews #into the fire #sean patrick flanery #tw depressing stuff #film nerd #film review #deep thoughts #feelings

[geckosoddysee]

Movies I've watched/rewatched this year tier list!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm gonna do this starting now til the end of the year. Hopefully this art challenge can help me keep up drawing consistently & be a way to improve my skills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So first up:

Movie:

The Princess & The Frog (2009) Without a doubt it earns that fuckin' GOAT Tier, no question! Ko-Fi Upload.

I tried to emulate the style of the visuals during the song "Almost There", which is my favorite song in the movie. It genuinely makes me feel so motivated when I listen. Like, yeah, I'm almost there. I can do this shit. I'VE CLIMBED THE MOUNTAIN I'VE CROSSED THE RIVER & I'M ALMOST THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anika Noni Rose has like the most insanely amazing singing voice, like, she's SO fucking good. Out of all the disney princess in terms of singing voices, she's my absolute favorite. (THAT I'VE SEEN KEEP IN MIND I HAVEN'T SEEN EVERY DISNEY FILM) I rewatched Princess & The Frog after almost a full decade of not having seen it since I was a kid. It was always my favorite disney film as a kid. As in, it was my favorite 'princess' disney film. I mean when it came out I was 9. It was one that I saw opening weekend because I was so fucking excited for it. I watched the hell out of our DVD of the film til it evenutally broke from overuse. Upon revisiting this film almost a decade later as a 22 year old, that opinion of it being the peak princess movie? Yeah it still holds true. This film is fucking amazing. This is PEAK Disney Fairytale & ALSO TIANA IS THE BEST DISNEY PRINCESS & I WILL FUCKING FIGHT ANYONE ON THAT. Y'ALL KNOW I'M RIGHT & I WILL FUCKIN' SQUARE UP IF YOU TRY TO TALK SHIT CUZ SHE IS THE BEST ONE. Also she was one of my earliest crushes. Like the first time I saw Tiana was the earliest memory I have of genuinely getting fictional crush. She's still a cornerstone in defining the kind of person I feel attracted to. Tiana is just.....man I love her. But also she's definitely way the fuck out of my league lmao. Okay so look, am I probably extremely biased with this film because I have a ton of nostalgia for it? Yes. I can't pretend nostalgia isn't giving this film extra points. I'm far too attatched to it to be truly unbiased. It means too much to me personally to really be 100% objective with my thoughts. But that would be boring. I like emotions. So fuck it.

But also I'm still gonna fucking die on the hill that this is the best princess film Disney ever did. I mean yes I'm incredibly biased because this was a film I cherished dearly as a kid & I am extremely fond of it because of the memories it gave me, but also like, nostalgia is still a genuine reason to love a film. I can acknowledge this movie ain't flawless. It has issues. I know it ain't flawless, the story is kind of a fucking mess & gets needlessly complicated with how the voodoo spell works & like Louis should have had way more screentime because Louis is fucking amazing & I want more of him.

So yeah, this earns an easy GOAT tier for me. Still my favorite princess film.

Also if you have films to suggest for me, please do!!

Sorry if this is messily written, I'm a bit sleep deprived rn. But I hope I did good. I'll try to upload the base image if y'all want me to. I think other folks taking this challenge could be fun. Tho be sure to tag me so I can see. I'd love to see other ppl try this. For me, this is a good way to get myself drawing consistently so I can improve & grow.

#thattoastygecko #art #my art #digital art #character art #artwork #artists on tumblr #walt disney #disney fanart #princess and the frog #princess tiana #the princess and the frog #anika noni rose #thattoastygeckoart #art challenge #tier #almost there

[fangedbrbie]

@demcnsinmymind :

'XYZ was a great guy.' Wasn't that always something you heard on the big true crime shows. Lance narrowed his eyes a little more at her, watching her curiously and attentively.

"What do you think made him snap then?" he asked, getting his pen ready so he could write down even more notes. "Do you think it was the curse?" he added, shifting in his seat a bit to get more comfortable. "Truth be told, I haven't really decided yet how I want to approach the narrative part of this story. I could see you standing somewhere close to where it happened, giving an interview. I could also see you as a fullblown narrator though, depending on your answer and recollection of things. I would love that" he explained, maybe a little too excited and giddy, given the topic.

But then again. He came to this town for some location scouting only. To get a grip on the whole situation, see if it's a story worth telling on film. And here she was now, giving him a truckload of information. It truly felt like he'd hit the jackpot, so what wasn't there to be excited about?

Soon enough though, he figured that maybe, he had to tone it down a little. Even if he didn't want to. Because he didn't want to lose her as a source and narrator either, and he figured that continuing to be all excited while she talked about how bad the Slater family had it was a dick move. So he forced the look on his face to change to something more serious, even though he had no point of reference and couldn't relate to any of it at all.

Nurse Lane - camp nightwing he jotted down, and it got a little harder to hide his excitement when she kept giving him even more goodies.

"I'd appreciate the pointers. I'm sure she has a lot of nice things to say about her daughter. Just like you did about Thomas. People need to hear this side of the story. The history. The domesticity. Not the gore and bloodshed. But the humanity behind it. That's what I wanna focus on." he told her, though he kept his reasoning behind it to himself. More drama. More emotion. More. Frowning, he looked back at Caroline.

"This whole thing really does sound like a curse. Fascinating stuff" he said, only to realize his slip up. He shook his head and waved her off.

"Fascinating, but terrible of course" he added, leaving out how the terrible was exactly the reason why it was fascinating, and why he was here. Sheriff Goode - he wrote down next, all the more interested.

"Are you and the sheriff on good terms? I'm guessing they're keeping you updated on everything that's going here, right. For your news show. Any chance you can put in a good word for me so that I can maybe interview them, too?"

𖤐 ⸺ that was the story that was being sold to the world. most didn't believe but both sides of town had a history. sunnyvale had emerged not long after sarah fier was hanged in sixteen-sixty six. and it prospered ever since. while shadyside suffered. maybe it was because it was shadysiders who had hung the witch. made sense. at least to caroline. and she was a very firm believer of the curse. a hum came from her as her gaze remained on the man. " honestly, could be a number of things. i mean sunnyvalers weren't too nice to people from shadyside back then." the blonde shrugged. " it's still that way to this day. " at the next question though, she let out a soft sigh and leaned upward, hands resting on top of her desk. "truthfully, yeah. for a number of reasons. no one just snaps like that..... " she recalled the smell. rotting corpse. the way she called out to tommy that night, trying to get his attention and he acted as if he didn't know his name. the way -- one of the most beloved and kindest counselors out of the entire campsite had so quickly turned into someone else. even the most psychotic in history didn't snap that quick. but hell, she wasn't qualified in that area. after all, caroline forbes was just a news anchor. " i can tell you the entire day and let you judge, if you'd like." caroline replied.

she'd do her best. that night was one she could never shake out of her mind. the pain and things she saw. the fight of her own self control. wanting to unleash the monster her nature was so eagerly wanting to be. had it not been for nick. the death count would have been far higher. but, he kept her grounded. and those details were best left untold. eyes glanced at his hand that was writing fast. " she does. she doesn't talk about ruby as much as she did back then. most of the people at camp thought nurse lane was a little unhinged. who could blame her though? losing a child.....i can't imagine it being easy on anyone." not that caroline had any experience in that. she just knew how it felt to lose someone she loved more than anything. her mother being at the very top of the list. sure, it'd been ten years almost but the pain remained. the regret and the longing to have her back. she was trying to move on with her life but it was the little things that reminded her of liz forbes. a soft smile hinted at her lips. " humanity is important and everyone has it. some just choose to ignore it." caroline nodded. " yeah, no problem! it's curious. i wouldn't say fascinating considering how dark and traumatizing it was for several people. myself included. but terrible, yeah. heartbreaking, majorly."

the mention of sheriff goode brought out a small laugh from. eyebrow raised. "you could say that we are." her and sheriff goode had one hell of a past. from growing up together, a friendship that spiraled into love. caroline was no stranger to him. "nick does a good job at letting me know things. but yeah, i can do that. it's no problem at all.

#tumblr wouldn't let me cut my old reply cause it was legacy posted ( my part kdsnfkjsdf ) #demcnsinmymind #[ 𖤐 ] : verse ➜ 1994 ™ #[ 𖤐 ] : ic ➜ fanged barbie ™

[meant-to-be-a-hero]

Season Six, Episode Ten: Riders On The Storm

Taking a break for Christmas after this so I can watch some movies and stuff, then I'll hit the last 10 between Christmas and New Year.

So who's even left at this point? Scott, Lydia, Malia, Liam, and now Stiles? That's it?

Didn't they stop filming the season for a while at some point, so DOB could come back? So like, Theo's hair is really long when he gets out of the Hunt, among other things.

Ominous ticket board is ominous.

Well this is heartbreaking.

And he came back in Roscoe instead of the forest because...dramatic effect, presumably?

Uh. Who put those there? That's some speedy construction.

"A Stiles?" - Yesssssss

Yeah, you can tell there's been a time jump behind the scenes, DOB looks different. His hair's longer, and his face is a little chunkier.

Ooh, green fire. Parrish got a Wild Hunt upgrade.

This is the Corey-is-a-machine bit, isn't it? Time for pain.

That's Corey's voice!

Parrishtinguished.

Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow? Or divert the tracks, same thing.

Corey is the VIP for this episode, I'm calling it now. He's the key here.

"Wanna split up?" "Never again." <3

Theooooooo. They probably let him out for being too much of a bastard and annoying them all tbh.

Liam, comedy genius.

"Welp, guess everyone dies." - Speaking of comedy genius.

Malia's never called Peter 'dad' before, has she? That's why it works this time, especially since there really isn't an emotional connection there other than mutual irritation.

Should Liam not be...on fire? Or is the rift just wide open now?

Pfft, gone again, well done Stiles.

I guess because the worlds are merging it makes less difference. Same reason why Scott and Stiles don't end up in the train station.

Is Peter in 6B? I feel like he isn't, or not much if he is.

There's that blue hallway again.

Unnecessary flippy shit, my one true love.

Oh Corey, sweetie.

Puppy Pack reunited though.

Stiles with a gun to his head in a locker room. We've been here before.

Yesssss Lydia!

"I didn't say it back." "You didn't have to." - :')

What's the point of having ghostly cowboys if you're not gonna have a Mexican standoff?

Woooo, snog time!

"That was so hot!" - Melissa, oh my god lmao.

"You would have made an excellent Nazi youth." - He's Latino, so I doubt it, but also, what a fucking insult.

Fake Claudia making one last attempt at being a horrible cow.

Ew, that make-up's not...nice...

"No one likes a Nazi." - Line of the episode.

You lose, you Nazi scumbag.

Scott doesn't have his split fangs any more? Aww.

Banshee scream powered bullet? Now that's what I call teamwork.

Someone pushed his luck too far, didn't he? Nazi Ghost Rider is a bad look.

So yeah, Beacon Hills is safe, but won't the Hunt just go take somewhere else? They're not really defeated as much as diverted away from the people we care about.

The Nine Herbs have become a bit of a deus ex machina at this point, haven't they?

Aww, baseball bat bequeathment.

"They'll always need us." - Hell yeah they will. 06x01 callback.

With a little more epilogue, that could have been a series finale tbh. But nope, 10 more episodes to go!

I do hope everyone got to finish college between 06x20 and the movie, they deserve at least that much.

#Lem's Teen Wolf Rewatch #Beware The Liveblogging Lem #Teen Wolf

[bestruction]

How it’d be to watch animes with them

A/N: While i’m working on my Mikasa x reader royal au, this little idea came to my mind. I tried to put the links when i mentioned a specific scene and speak a little about the anime in case you don’t know it.  So here it’s: 

Warnings: Me exposing my otaku self, mentions of 18+ animes (Not hentais) 

Eren -  Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (13+)

A / N: The main characters like each other, but none wants to confess because being the person who takes the first step would also represent being the defeated person. The anime develops in a series of plans that both elaborate to make the other confess their love.

Warnings: None

It was his idea to watch an anime together since the two of you liked it a lot. You saw no harm and agreed to go to sleep with your boyfriend on Friday night. So, you would have the dawn and the weekend to see everything.

“We could watch One piece! Everybody likes"

“In three days ?! We will not finish even if we do not take breaks ”

"Naruto then?"

“Haven't you seen it all five times or more?

"But it is a classic!"

"It is also too long!"

He would sulk when he saw you reject each of his suggestions for being too big animes. The truth was, he was trying to convince you to stay longer. After much searching in the catalog, you choose to watch a short comedy of 12 episodes.

Biggest mistake ever

Eren is already annoying by nature, and after watching Kaguya-sama's two seasons he would spend the day and night trying to get you to confess to him EVEN IF YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE FOR TWO YEARS AND HE HAS BEEN THE FIRST TO DECLARE. HIT HIM, PLEASE.

"Do you think that using such a low trick will make me give in?"

“Eren, I just got out of the shower. What trick? Wear an outfit? ”

“Showing off your skin won't make you win”

If you wanted to play with him, great. You are going to spend the day in this little game until he gets tired and just hugs you or something because he can't spend a lot of time without touching you. But if you didn't want to, just you could use that touchy side of him against him too.

"Maybe I shouldn't show you anything else then"

"Yes, of course, do- Wait what?"

"You heard"

“NO, BABE! YOU WON! I CONFESS! I LOVE YOU"

Watching anime with him would be quite an experience. For being very verbal, Eren would be the type of person who doesn't shut up watching anything. Especially, something that makes him laugh. You would see him laughing out loud and throwing himself back on the couch or on you, whether you were with him or not. You may even complain, but it would be fun to see him react to everything as immediately and naturally as an unfiltered child.

He will sing ALL the openings for the rest of the days around the house until you are humming some without realizing it.

For some reason, can I imagine him doing Chika dance ?? Yes, please film this big bear dancing like a little girl.

Levi - Death parade 

A / N: Do you want to cry and hurt yourself? This is the right place. Death Parade is a story about what happens after death. The characters are sent to mysterious bars where they will be judged to decide the fate of the souls themselves. (18+)

Warnings: Suicide, depressive themes, mentions of rape and domestic violence

I don't see Levi watching many animes. In fact, I don't see him watching much anything at all. He would be the type of person who can't spend a lot of time in front of the television without feeling like he's wasting time. Which would result in a very selective and demanding taste.

He would always read the reviews about the film, and after watching it, he would make his own. Ever. No exceptions. Unlike Impossible-to-be-quiet-Eren, Levi would be silent to be able to capture and understand all the details. This is interesting because getting his attention is a difficult task. But once it's done, he is 100% focused on the story and immersed in the characters.

So, after reading about it, he would agree to watch Death Parade with you.

He would have low expectations at first, and if the anime failed to hold his very difficult attention in three episodes, he wouldn't even try with the rest.

So when in the first episode, all suspense and doubts left to the viewer entered Ackerman's head, he would finish the other 11 without realizing it.

As a rational person, he would love things that make him think and reflect on the proposed theme. In the case: Life and death.

For some reason, I imagine him as someone who would like to study and read philosophy as a hobby and that he would love Nietzsche? So, you could expect deep conversations after each episode.

But without any arrogance, humanity's strongest soldier might not be the most talkative man in humanity, but surely when he opened his mouth to it, it wouldn’t be to show himself off with something that he knows and you don’t. On the contrary, he would be more than happy to explain if you asked and added your opinion.

He wouldn't cry, but he would be touched by the way the emotions were shown and created in the characters.

He would probably see the scene where Decim cries more than once for being impressed with how the pain of a character who is supposedly not flesh and blood is expressed so well.

And after the anime is over, you would always see him listening to the music of the ice skating scene around the house while doing something.

When you were finished watching everything, you would talk again about the anime. You lying on his chest and he touching his hair, smelling him.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Levi?"

“If so, I wouldn't go back to this shit a second time. No matter what they offered me ”

"Levi!"

"Unless it was to have you again"

“What a cliché” He would roll his eyes after hearing your response “But I like clichés”

Again, he wouldn't cry, but he would be thinking about how ephemeral things can be, including being alive. Then you can expect a more touchy Levi for a few days.

Jean - Banana Fish 

N / A: Another one to cry and get hurt. Banana Fish is way more than just a story about one character just is hard to define. So in case, you didn’t watch it, here’s the trailer. (18+)

warnings: pedophilia, rape, violence, drugs, your heart being destroyed

You know that guy who says that no yaoi is good, it's just a way to feed a bunch of fujoshi and stuff like that? Jean. It's him. I just know it. So when you suggested Banana Fish and said it was a BL / yaoi, he would probably laugh and ignore the idea.

But after insisting a little and showing him the many compliments that both the anime and the manga received, he would accept.

At first, he wouldn't pay much attention. He really thought it would be just another bad anime. But by the end of the first episode, he would be too involved in the story to stop.

I think he would love crime novels for the same reason that Levi: To think. Try to find out how things are going to end and pick up any clues that the author has left about the ending. So the plot would hold him so much because he would make a ton of theories about the end.

He will ship Ash and Eiji with all his soul. I mean, how can he not ship? To see an anime in which the physical touch between the couple doesn't really happen and still builds a well-developed and healthy relationship would be a new experience for him.

Jean is somewhat similar to Eren in this respect. So you can expect to see him huffing in anger, cursing one of the characters, throwing a pillow away, or using it to hide a tear or two that he would let go of you. The kind of person who gets emotionally involved with the things he watches.

He would cry an entire river after watching the last episode and deny it later.

“I was not crying. The cushion fabric made my eyes itch a lot ”

Show him again and he will cry the same amount and intensity

Armin - Haikyuu

A / N: Considering all the texts on Tumblr for haikyuu characters, I’m pretty sure you know what anime it’s lol (10+)

Armin is an otaku with a license card and no one can change my mind. He would probably start watching it as a child. So, his first animes would be everyone's classics: Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, etc.

So it would be normal that as the vast majority, he would continue to have a preference for shounen when he grew up. So it would be your idea to see Haikyuu.

He would have low expectations because he thought it would be just another anime with cute characters for everyone to be thirsty as an inverted harem. And also because the synopsis does not create a strong impression, especially for those who consume shounen daily.

"So we are just gonna see a little boy trying to catch a ball?"

“It's gonna be good! Everyone is talking about it now ”

"Does he have some superpower?"

"No"

"Something scary?"

"Armin, just give a chance!"

He would like it. Did I say he would like it? Because he would love it. The atmosphere created and well developed with such a simple plot would hold his attention well. (Is it possible to dislike Hinata in the first episode?)

It would be a great anime for him to watch because 1. It is different from what he usually sees. Unlike shounen, Haikyuu deals only with real and tangible scenarios. Of course, still with that touch of anime, but it is very easy to recognize yourself in the characters and learn from them and therefore reflect on yourself as well.

It would be great to make him think about his own insecurities and how most of them were inside his head.

He would be so immersed in the anime universe that he would have to pause the game scenes because he would be too nervous waiting for the ball to fall.

You will probably see him taking a deep breath in each drawing scene of the characters and see him truly cheering for the team as if it were a real national game.

More than that, you will see his eyes full of tears when Yamaguchi hit the serve in the match against Aoba johsai.

In fact, Yamaguchi would be his favorite character. No discussions.

"I said it would be good"

"Shut up"

"Make me"

Mikasa - Heaven’s official blessing 

A / N: I'm going to leave the trailer here because I don't know how to define it very well. It's a novel, but the story doesn't focus ONLY on that. (14+)

Okay, you didn't suggest. She did not suggest. So how do you end up watching together? You catch her watching when you come home by surprise lol

Until then, you would know that she watched some anime, but nothing romantic. Never. In fact, that was her little secret.

Although common sense is that Mikasa would be cold even in a modern au (and I agree in parts). I think she would be the type of person who loves to see the sweetest and softest things to melt alone on the couch without anyone seeing. A moment for herself and a part of her that she would not show to anyone.

You would already know about her romantic side, but seeing her under the covers sighing while watching the Netflix special episode is a totally different story.

Please don’t mock her!!. She would be red enough by the time she was discovered.

When she was less shy, she would ask if you want to watch with her. She would say she saw no problem watching it with you again since doing it with you would be a different experience.

If you accept, you would spend the rest of the night in the room sharing a blanket and absorbing the soft atmosphere, the soundtrack, and the Chinese culture so present in history.

She would not speak a lot because she was paying attention, but she would hug you all the time. In the romantic scenes, she would tighten her arms around you a little and sometimes left a kiss on your shoulder.

I think she could relate to Hua Cheng's way of loving. He is always there to protect, care for and see his lover even if sometimes Xie Lian doesn't even know.

And that is what she wants to show you, that more than a girlfriend, she is also someone you can count on.

Days later, you will see her reading the rest of the work around the house because she couldn't stand to wait for a second season.

And later, SURELY melting and vibrating while watching Mo Dao Zu Shi.

#aot x reader #aot x you #eren x reader #mikasa x reader #armin x reader #levi x reader #jean x reader #kaguya sama wo kataritai #haikyuu!! #banana fish #death parade #heavens official blessing #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin x reader #aot imagines #eren jaeger x reader #eren headcanons #mikasa headcanons #armin headcanons #levi headcanons #jean headcanons

[iamthenightcolormeblack]

Impressions of Bride and Prejudice (2004)

I finally watched this movie as it is currently free on YouTube! It's a really interesting "modern-day" adaptation (specifically a Bollywood musical) of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice which takes place in Amritsar, India, London, England and California, USA instead of the English countryside. It stars Aishwarya Rai as Elizabeth Bennet (now Lalita Bakshi) and Martin Henderson as Mr. Darcy (William Darcy).

Names:

Bakshis = Bennets

Jaya Bakshi = Jane Bennet

Lalita Bakshi = Elizabeth Bennet

Maya Bakshi = Mary Bennet

Lakhi Bakshi = Lydia Bennet (Kitty isn't included here)

Kholi Saab = Mr. Collins

Balraj = Bingley

Chandra Lamba = Charlotte Lucas

Kiran = Caroline Bingley

Darcy's mother (Catherine Darcy) = Lady Catherine de Bourgh

The Casting:

Aishwarya Rai as Lalita Bakshi. She's captivating and beautiful as Lalita, with intelligence and wits to match. The film understands why Elizabeth Bennet is one of literature's greatest heroines: she has a lot of self-respect, speaks her mind, and refuses to compromise on her values. What's most important is that she achieves the balance between the two clashing cultures: she cares about her family and respects Indian traditions yet is also a strong individual who keeps her dignity.

Martin Henderson as William Darcy. I don't like that Darcy is an American in this movie because (in general) Americans are usually less reserved than British people, so it takes away a key part of Darcy's character (his repressed emotions). He's much more sympathetic than book Darcy because he seems to be more open-minded towards Indian culture the more he learns about it (unlike book Darcy, who is stubborn and insists that his "good opinion once lost is lost forever"). In the book, Darcy's pride has several characteristics (belief in the correctness of his opinions, belief in his social superiority, bad treatment of others he thinks is beneath him). I don't like how the film simplified his pride into imperialism/ethnocentrism, which he lets go of pretty quickly. Plus his "rudeness" can easily be perceived as discomfort in a new cultural environment because he hasn't been exposed to Indian culture, whereas in the book it seems to be intentional (and Darcy acknowledges to Elizabeth that he was taught to treat others beyond his own social circle meanly). Overall I had rather too much sympathy for him because he's too easy to read; he's experiencing a lot of culture shocks which he isn't prepared for, and his imperialistic beliefs (which come from his mother) don't help. One of the reasons book Darcy is interesting is because he's mysterious; his emotions remain hidden and the only sign of his growing love for Elizabeth is his staring at her. This Darcy is just a typical white American boy who is in love with a woman far superior to him in terms of intellect and cultural awareness.

Nitin Ganatra as Kohli Saab. Mr. Collins is one of my favorite cringe characters ever and never fails to disappoint. In this movie, he's an accountant who lives in the Beverly Hills area in Southern California and is very arrogant because he thinks he's a big shot living close to celebrities in a one-of-a-kind colonial home (when in actuality he lives in a cookie-cutter house in a suburb). He peppers his speech with Western slang to show off how "American" (and thus wealthy) he is, yet still clings to outmoded beliefs that women should be submissive housewives. He represents the very worst of Western culture in that he's materialistic and looks down on Indian culture as beneath him. In his quest for riches he has lost his Indian identity and become greedy.

Notable Scenes:

The first dance. Balraj is happy to have fun and show off his awesome dancing skills. Darcy, meanwhile, observes that the mothers are eyeing Balraj for the marriage market and is worried that his friend may be trapped by gold-diggers. He's clearly uncomfortable and out of his element here, so Kiran helps translate the songs for him. It's interesting seeing Kiran as a translator here because it would explain why she's one of the few people Darcy hangs out with; she's a cultural intermediary here to help him acclimate to a strange new environment.

Darcy snubs Lalita. This part in the book where Darcy insults Elizabeth by proclaiming her "tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" is significant in forming Elizabeth's hatred of Darcy. Not only is he impolite in refusing to dance with Elizabeth, he also shames her by criticizing her looks. In the movie, Darcy excuses himself from dancing with Lalita by saying that he's busy preparing for a conference (in this version, he's a rich businessman who operates luxury hotels). I wish they had kept the original insult in because without it, Lalita's dislike of Darcy has less merit. While it was impolite of him to not dance, he did use a proper excuse and didn't insult Lalita, so unlike in the book, it doesn't make sense why she would hate him so intensely after that one meeting.

A Marriage Has Come to Town song. In this song-and-dance number, Lalita and Jaya are preparing for the wedding to Balraj. The whole town is excited for the wedding and Lalita wonders if life for a woman is all about getting married to be a mere wife: "It seems they had nothing in their lives before today / and why are they so happy to give a daughter away."

Darcy and Lalita conversation #1: Lalita points out most Amritsar residents can't afford to stay at Darcy's luxury hotels; Darcy says standards are necessary, justifying the high price. Darcy says he finds arranged marriages strange and "backwards," hinting at an affinity with Lalita as they are both "romantics." Lalita, still thinking that Darcy is attempting to insult Indian culture, says that arranged marriages have evolved and may not be so evil as he thinks it is.

Lalita and Darcy "accomplished woman" scene. So they have the part from the book where they have Darcy's unrealistic list of the characteristics of his perfect woman and then it becomes a culture clash. Lalita says Darcy's whole hotel business is imperialism (the tourists visit without appreciating Indian culture and the jobs created only benefit the well-off). Darcy replies: "But I'm not British" ("American exceptionalism" is just another form of imperialism).

Dinner with Kohli Saab. I love watching all the "Dinner with Mr. Collins" scenes from all Pride and Prejudice adaptations because it reveals Collins' great arrogance in assuming himself to be of greater importance than he is, as well as his bad manners. This movie does not disappoint; Kohli Saab literally eats with his fingers, shoving rice into his mouth while talking at the same time. Meanwhile, he spews out misogynistic views of women, stating that he came to India to find a "traditional" wife who will serve and obey him; after all, there is "no life without wife." He notes that the Indian-American girls have "a conceited sort of independence" (not what he actually said in the movie, this is a quote from the book which really fits here) and that some of the Indian-American girls "have turned into the lesbian." Lalita later recalls that watching Kohli Saab eat is like observing "a Jackson Pollock painting."

"No Life Without Wife" song. An accurate reading of Kholi Saab: he's "crude and loud" and came to find a wife by flashing his "green card, new house, and big cash." The song reveals what a hypocrite he is; he's lonely and pathetic because there is "no life without wife" yet he won't respect his wife as his equal. I love the "Kohliwood" fantasy sequence where Lalita pictures herself unhappily serving Kohli as a submissive wife. After the song ends Lalita imagines herself marrying Wickham in the English countryside before it turns out Darcy is the groom; she runs away from him.

The Cobra dance. Maya shows off her dancing skills in an awkward dance. Kholi criticizes Indians for being "unsophisticated" (what an arrogant person) while Darcy, in a change of heart, praises how highly they value family.

Kholi's proposal. I love how he tries to train himself to power walk because it's trendy and before proposing stretches himself clumsily, knocking over a pot (he definitely isn't husband material). Lalita mocks Kholi's obsession with physical health, pointing out that many people are physically healthy but don't exercise their minds.

Visiting Kiran. Kiran is arrogant and takes the Bakshis over to her fancy apartment where the mother tries and fails to show some cultural knowledge. I find it interesting that the movie made Lalita and Kiran foils of each other. They are both intelligent women who are "multicultural" in that they can navigate both Indian and Western culture, but they use their cultural knowledge in different ways. Kiran uses it to belittle others and demonstrate her own superiority, while Lalita uses it as a means of gaining respect for herself and others.

Darcy ends up on the same airplane flight as Lalita. This is a cute scene where he gives the first class seat to Mrs. Bakshi just so he can sit with Lalita in economy class (he's totally in love with her!).

Kohli Saab's epic house tour. Love how he pays great attention to the jet tubs and the closets.

Meeting Darcy's mom. She's totally ethnocentric and possibly racist. The first thing she asks Lalita is "tell me about India" and she expresses her disappointment at Darcy's decision (because of Lalita, it's so obvious he's in love) not to buy the hotel in India because "everybody has their hand on India these days" (brings to mind spheres of influence/colonialism since the mother sees India as a place to make a profit). Then the mother reveals that she really isn't interested in India and only knows about its stereotypes: "well, with yoga, and spices, and...wonderful Eastern things here there's no point in traveling there anymore." Meanwhile Lalita retorts that "people haven't stopped going to Italy because Pizza Hut's around the corner."

The first proposal. Darcy's conflicted feelings for Lalita are effectively summed up (perhaps better than in the book, where he begins well but ends with a long account of the inferiority of Elizabeth's connections): "he loves her in spite of the fact that he tried to forget about her, he still wants to marry her in spite of the fact that his family (specifically his mom) will disapprove." Unfortunately, the emphasis on the social inferiority of Lalita's family is left out; Darcy doesn't say anything else until Lalita claims that he thinks her family is inferior and blames him for separating Jaya and Balraj. I don't like this because it seems like the separation of Jaya and Balraj was the only reason Elizabeth rejected Darcy. Also Elizabeth's admission that she did try to overlook her prejudice of Darcy doesn't make sense, because only after the first proposal does she do so.

Plot Changes. The major plot points are all included but the "order of events" has changed:

Lalita and Darcy become friends and she meets his family before his disastrous first proposal. There's a montage where they are traveling alone together, visiting the Grand Canyon and sharing a moment on the beach. I don't like this change because Darcy's separating Jane and Bingley wasn't the only reason Elizabeth rejected him, it was because she hated him (arrogant, proud, doesn't treat others nicely). By showing early on that Darcy is a good person, Lalita's prejudice against Darcy makes less sense because she now has a glimpse of Darcy's true character which in the book doesn't happen until the Pemberley visit.

Their early friendship disrupts Darcy's character journey because it reduces the significance of the first proposal to his character development. In the book, he doesn't start to reform himself until Elizabeth tells him that he needs to behave in a "more gentleman-like manner."

The first proposal is the consequence of all the miscommunication and false perceptions affecting Elizabeth and Darcy, and it motivates both characters to change. Elizabeth rightly scolds Darcy for being inconsiderate; he did the proposal for the selfish reason of purging his feelings so that he wouldn't have to suffer anymore and assumed that she would say yes. Elizabeth rejects him because of his rude manners and lack of consideration, and his defensiveness (where he portrays himself as the victim of feelings and implies he's such a good boy for wanting to marry her in spite of her horrid family) doesn't help. After realizing the extent to which Elizabeth hates him, Darcy writes The Letter to set things right, and Elizabeth realizes that she is not the best judge of character. Thus, giving us a fuller picture of Darcy's character and letting him charm Lalita before the first proposal reduces the significance of the event to the plot and character development.

Wickham and Lakhi have a connection early on, making Lakhi's attempted elopement inevitable. Right after the failed first proposal, Lakhi runs off with Wickham and Lalita and Darcy find out about it at the same time that Darcy comes to apologize and tell Lalita that Wickham is bad. I love that Wickham was punished really badly; after Darcy fights him, he gets slapped twice, once by Lalita and the second time by Lakhi. Even better is that Lakhi doesn't end up with Wickham.

Themes

The film uses the culture clash between India (Eastern) and Western cultures to examine what makes a good marriage.

Indian culture as presented by the film is more collectivist ("we" over "I"). It also promotes traditional gender roles, with women expected to be "meek and submissive" wives. In contrast, Western culture in the film is more individualistic and aspirational (careers and love are possible). But at its worst it condones exploitation of others for profit and cultural intolerance.

In the book, there are different kinds of "culture clashes:" traditional nobility versus new money (the Bingleys made their fortune in trade and Caroline is hoping to be an accomplished woman to make up for this), country versus city (Darcy offending Mrs. Bennet by claiming that the society is "confined and unvarying") and arranged versus romantic marriages.

The misunderstandings that propel the story (Darcy's dismissing of Elizabeth as "tolerable," him falling in love with her even though she still hates him, her belief in the legitimacy of "first impressions") are emphasized through the culture clash. Many of the conflicts in the film are a result of cultural stereotypes and conflicting beliefs.

Interestingly the film doesn't resolve the question it raises of how best to appreciate India and its culture. Lalita raises a lot of points about not oversimplifying Indian culture to a few stereotypes, but one could argue that India as represented by the film might be stereotypical. With the exception of the resort scenes and Goa beaches (which are tourist traps according to the film), the scenes in India heavily emphasize the "developing country" aspects of India with lots of pastoral scenes (cows crossing the road unharmed, farmland, dirt, shacks, dirty motorcycles fighting each other in traffic). Plus the "culture" as represented by the film's dance sequences seems to be the dominant Hindu culture with lots of elephants and saris and curry. Yes, I know this film is a romantic comedy, but the assertion that India is a complex, diverse country is contradicted by what we are presented. Presenting the rustic aspects of India would explain why the characters want to get out of India and go to the richer Western nations, but it harms the premise of the story that we shouldn't judge based on first impressions because the India scenes seem to confirm a Westerner's stereotypes of India (exotic people living in a primitive land).

Changing views on marriage: In the film, as in the book, we are presented with traditional and modern views on what makes a good marriage. Mr. Collins' marriage represents the traditional view in which marriage is a practical "economic proposition," much like a business deal where the marriage is made for the securing of material wealth and happiness comes last. Lady Catherine and other members of the aristocracy view marriage as a means of producing heirs (and bringing large amounts of money through dowries) to keep the property (source of power and wealth) in the family. The modern view of marriage is a partnership of equals who love and respect each other; happiness rather than material wealth/power is the priority. It threatens the power of the traditional nobles as it provides the potential for social climbing. Finally, it becomes another part of the culture clash, as it also ties in with the Western value of individualism, putting it at odds with the more collectivist Indian culture as presented by the film.

Elizabeth and Darcy in the book and in the film are united by their belief in a marriage based on love (the modern view). In the film, Darcy says he wants to look forward to starting each day with his wife, while Lalita says she wants a man who is a romantic and respects her for her mind. For instance, Elizabeth states that "only the deepest love will induce me into matrimony" and that Jane and Bingley should have some time to get to know each other before being rushed into marriage. To Elizabeth, mutual love and respect are essential for a marriage to succeed.

As for book Darcy, when Caroline catches him admiring Elizabeth and asks if he will marry her right away, he jokingly rebuffs her for making that assumption: "A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment. I knew you would be wishing me joy." Significantly, he mentions love needing to come before marriage, hinting that he shares the same belief about respect (admiration) and love being necessary for a good marriage. In fact, a big reason he separated Jane from Bingley was because he feared that Jane did not love Bingley in return. In short, love in marriage is just as important to Darcy as it is to Elizabeth.

Conclusion:

Bride and Prejudice, as shown by the title, focuses heavily on the theme of marriage and uses the culture clash between India and the West to emphasize the importance of first impressions in our treatment of others.

Even if you aren't into Pride and Prejudice, the movie is worth watching for the Bollywood dance sequences. I also liked the songs because they effectively developed the marriage theme.

The characters are mostly true to the book, except for Darcy, who isn't proud enough and is quick to reform his character.

Last but not least, the real villains of the story were imperialism and ethnocentrism.

Tags: @thatvermilionflycatcher @appleinducedsleep @princesssarisa

#bride and prejudice #aishwarya rai #martin henderson #bollywood #pride and prejudice #jane austen #mr darcy #elizabeth bennet #elizabeth x darcy #book adaptation #adaptation

[devotion]

christmas came early → t.h

summary: you provide tom the long awaited news some time before christmas, and he’s just as overjoyed as you are about it.

notes: this is based on a dream that I had lmao (happy birthday, @duskholland <3)

word count: 700+ | masterlist

───✦

even on the coldest days of winter like these, the sun still shines bright, bestowing brilliance and bringing joy into your heart. the snow rests upon the window pane, building up slowly minute by minute and painting the outdoors in silvery white.

although apprehension and worry gradually became emotions you were getting used to, one look outside ebbed any negative feeling you had. not to mention the fact that tom had also tried to spend every minute with you these holidays. it made your insides flutter as he was trying so hard to keep up with your relationship. 4 years and going, a ring on your finger, a baby on it's way and you were still as strong as ever.

yet, the only reason why you were nervous is because you haven't exactly told tom about your baby. and it was getting increasingly tough for you to figure out how to share the incredible news. only because you wouldn't know how he would react since he would be going away again after the holiday season.

and here you both were. watching harry potter like you do when it always comes to christmas; it felt nice to be cuddled up together, wrapped up in a shared blanket and your feet being thankfully toasted in front of the fire. 

tom watched the screen with so much attention throughout the whole movie, his lips parting at times. your eyes were only focussed on his attentive state. eventually, he caught you staring. it made him laugh and he scrunched his nose whilst doing so. at that moment, you closed the gap between you both and kiss his soft lips followed by a few more feathery kisses around his face: to appreciate the amazing man in your life. 

a content sigh escaped your lips as you felt his arms wrapping around your shoulders, again warmth fuelling your body at his touch. his lips found his way to your neck and he gently sucked on the revealing skin, but not enough to make a mark just yet as he put a stop to his actions. he knew you loved that feeling.

your hormones at that moment wanted more. however, when the slight coldness of the plastic stick next to you touched your bare skin, it reminded you of how you were going to prepare the news for him, diminishing any idea of arousal you had quite quickly.

the film came close to an end, showing the main protagonists watch their children leave for hogwarts at king's cross station, eliciting a smile on your face at the happy ending.

children.

the credits appeared and you found no other moment better than this. that's when your left hand fumbled down to where the pregnancy test was. and then, your other hand found it's way to tom's large ones, placing it directly in them. 

"your christmas gift came early... ya know. couldn't wait any longer," you stated, nervousness bubbling up in your system nevertheless looking up at his brown and confused eyes. in only a few days, it will be christmas eve, but you couldn't anticipate any longer.

he still couldn't figure out what it was as you handed it over under the covers. so, when he revealed it so he could see it directly, his eyes widened, so much so that it looked like he had saw a ghost.

he was surprised, alright.

before you could actually assess his reaction, the next thing you knew, he attacked you on the sofa, kissing each part of your body and face that was exposed to him, which meant he clearly wanted this moment to come for a long time. he had always wanted kids. he had always wanted to settle down with someone. but most of all, he had always wanted you by his side 'till death do us apart.

inbetween his ambush of kisses, tom stopped to exclaim, "we're gonna be parents!" making you squeal at his excitement.

he was going to be a great father. he proved to be so when your baby niece had been in both your care when her mother had to work her night shift. he was remarkable. and so were you.

he had abruptly stopped, breathing heavily, to survey you lovingly. the light of the roasting fire danced in his eyes; stained with the colour of cinnamon on that same cold, winter night - wrapping you around like a blanket.

he proclaimed, "i've never felt this happy even on christmas," which made your heart beat faster. you loved how your disclosure made him immensely happy and elated. it was obvious that he wanted to be in every step of your future. he wasn't going to go anywhere. 

thomas stanley holland was the father of your child. 

"i'd say christmas came early for both of us."

───✦

@fallinfortom @fallinforevans @t-lostinworlds 💗

#tom holland fluff #tom holland #tom holland smut #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland imagine #tom holland imagines #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #peter parker tom holland #spiderman #tom holland blurbs #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker imagines #peter parker #peter parker smut #tom #peter parker fluff #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #marvel #mcu #spiderman imagine #tom holland peter parker #tom holland preference #holland #parker #peter

[lucaalbertoadventures]

Wahh, I can't believe it has been 5 months since I created this account! I haven't realized how long it's been since I began posting these photos of the fish boys going to Disneyland!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the support you have given up to now! Whether it was leaving a like, reblogging/retweeting posts, or following this account, I really appreciate it all. 🙏

It's probably long overdue, but I would like to share the story of how I started this Luca/Disneyland photo blog. Though, please be warned: it is VERY long! I tend to ramble a bit too much, ahaha...

Watching Luca

Well, I think I should start off with the first time I watched Luca back in June 2021, haha. I actually didn't know much about the movie beforehand, so I only knew of a few details (like its portrayal of the Italian Riviera and the joys of summertime). Come to think of it, I don't think I ever saw the trailers! But I enjoyed a lot of Pixar's previous movies, so I assumed I would enjoy Luca just as much.

However, I was not expecting the movie to completely capture my heart! It had such a beautiful story filled with wonder and warmth. I was captivated by Luca's daydream sequences and the feeling of freedom yearned by both Luca and Alberto. To me, it felt really intimate and special.

One other big reason why I loved the movie so much was Luca, Alberto, and their friendship! It was very heartwarming to see these boys become so close in the movie. I still get emotional whenever I think about how they were willing to set aside their own dream to make the other's dream come true... 🥲

And yes, I adore Luca and Alberto both as best friends and as budding romantic partners! The love between them is so profound, and it's plain to see that they care deeply for one another. It just makes my heart flutter! 💗

First Steps into Luca Fandom

The impact Luca had on me was undeniable. I couldn't stop thinking about the movie (especially with that ending! *sob*), so naturally I started hunting for more Luca content!

It was surreal seeing so many amazing Luca fan art and fan works on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. There were even storyboards and behind-the-scenes tidbits shared by the crew who worked on the movie! I was devouring all that content up!

In addition to browsing for fan art, I also looked for official merch. Whenever I get into a movie/anime/video game/etc., I go searching for official goods to add to my collection--particularly plushes and figures! I was eager to find all sorts of Luca merch that would be available to purchase.

... Sadly, there weren't a lot of Luca-related stuff for sale. I checked the shopDisney site and my local Disney Stores (back when they were still open), but there were barely any merch. And the plushes and figurines that were previously released were all sold out! ☹️

I didn't give up, though. I checked shopDisney multiple times every day to see if they restocked. Then one fateful day towards the end of July, the plushes and figurine playsets were finally available! I remember going through checkout blazingly fast, since I was afraid they would be out of stock again!

The Mattel Luca Figures

During this time, I also saw that Target opened online preorders for Mattel's Luca toy line: a scooter set with Luca and Alberto in human form, and a Target-exclusive set featuring the boys in their sea monster form.

When I first saw the promo pics, I was pretty impressed with their range of joint articulation and how accurate they were to their film counterparts. I've seen plenty of other figures that don't quite match the character, and with limited articulation to boot. The Luca sets also had pretty neat accessories, so it was an obvious choice to place my preorders for them!

The figure sets had an estimated delivery date of August 4-9, so I patiently waited for the release day to come...!

... Unfortunately, some slightly disappointing news came instead. Target sent out an email with an update stating that the release date would be moved to next week. A week delay was not that bad, especially during a pandemic, so I waited once again.

Exactly 7 days later, Target sent another email with the new release date set for the following week. I was getting slightly nervous with this second delay, but I continued to wait.

Another 7 days, and another email from Target with a new release date for the next week. I haven't experienced this kind of delay before, so I was getting a bit worried!  I wasn't sure if Target would end up canceling my preorders, so I started looking for alternative places to purchase the figures.

I saw that Amazon was selling figures of sea monster Luca and Alberto separately. These figures had an extra feature to them: their head paddles and tail fins could change color in hot and cold temperatures!

I placed my order for them, and they arrived promptly about a week later. I was very excited to finally hold these figures with my own two hands, lol.

Upon opening the box, I was surprised by the size of the figures--they were bigger than expected! Their sea monster bodies had a subtle glittery sheen to them when put under the light, which is pretty cool. The range of articulation was also better than expected (Ball joint for the neck! Swivel movement in the elbows and knees! Rotation in the waist and tail! etc...) And finally, Luca and Alberto's little fishy faces looked very cute! 🥰

Meanwhile, my Target preorders were still being delayed... *weep*

Disneyland and the Magic Key

I've been writing a lot about Luca so far, and I haven't even gotten around to Disneyland yet! Aha...

To tell the truth, I actually wasn't that into Disneyland before. I appreciated the attractions and stuff, but I wasn't a diehard fan or anything. My sister, on the other hand, is pretty into Disneyland and theme parks in general. She was the one who convinced me to go to Disneyland for the first time in years. She wanted us to go see the new Star Wars land called Galaxy's Edge, and since there was a discount deal on multi-day tickets for Southern California residents, she argued that it was the perfect time to go, lol.

After giving in to my sister's demands (I jest, hehe), we went to Disneyland in early 2020. We had a blast going on the rides and remembering all the things from when we were kids. The new Galaxy's Edge was massive and had such incredible detail to it. I gained much more appreciation of Disneyland and the technology, innovation, and imagination that went into the park.

And then on mid March 2020, California issued a state-wide shut down in response to the terrible pandemic...

~~~

Disneyland reopened its doors on April 30, 2021 after over a year of closure. It was initially only open to California residents, with online reservations required before entering the parks.

My sister was eager to go back to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, but I, again, had to be persuaded a bit. We were already fully vaccinated, but I was still a little weary. Being on top of Disneyland news and such, my sister reassured me that the parks were operating on limited capacity, so it wouldn't be crowded like in the pre-pandemic days. The cast members were also working hard to keep park goers socially distanced and wearing their masks.

We ended up going back to the parks a few times around May and June 2021, and like my sister said, the crowds were unusually sparse. It was admittedly pretty nice walking around the parks so freely without bumping into people.

A few months later on August 2021, Disney announced the Magic Key pass for Disneyland and DCA, the newest iteration of the annual pass program.

My sister (who still couldn't get enough of Disneyland, lol) wanted to get Magic Key passes. I, once again, had to be persuaded. I liked Disneyland, but I wasn't sure if I could keep going there for a whole year. It was also a bit pricey, especially for the highest tier (Dream Key) at $1400 USD!

My sister, being an expert on good deals, noted that the Dream Key tier was the best bang for the buck: no blockout dates, the highest discounts on food/merch, and free parking.

I mulled over it for a while. There were still places in Disneyland and DCA that we haven't fully explored yet. In addition, there would be upcoming seasonal events we haven't yet experienced, like Halloween and Lunar New Year. This would also be the chance for us to try all the different food and drinks at the parks.

And so... after careful consideration, I got myself the Magic Key pass at the Dream Key tier! 🗝

A Realization

Remember the Target preorders that were delayed? Well, Target finally shipped the Mattel Luca sets, and they arrived in mid September 2021! Yay!

Both sets were quite awesome! The sea monster set had nice quality accessories--I especially liked the gramophone and Luca's shepherd's crook. And the diving helmet was a hilarious touch!

The other set had an impressive mix-and-match scooter with working wheels. But, to me, the real prizes were Luca and Alberto in their human forms! I couldn't get enough of their cuteness. Alberto has that confident grin, and Luca has that innocent smile. Their articulation is pretty similar to their sea monster versions, although human Luca's head had slightly less range of motion.

With that (plus the beautiful Stargazers set with Luca and Giulia I bought later in the year), my Luca toy collection was done! 🥳 I was glad and relieved to finally have the plushes and figures after they were out of stock/delayed.

Well, actually... There was another set of Luca plushes that I wanted for my collection, but the aftermarket prices + shipping costs were too high. The plushes were the Sega prizes available only in crane games located in Japan!

I first saw pictures of them back in July 2021 when I was browsing Enrico Casarosa's (director of Luca) Twitter account. He retweeted photos of these adorable chibi Luca and Alberto plushes that I hadn't seen before! The photos belonged to @Bonn102 and @sunny_day_o, who cosplayed with their plushes at Tokyo DisneySea.

I thought it was super neat that they brought their Luca plushes on their trip! It reminded me of the collectors who bring their anime figures or dolls outdoors to take stunning photographs of them.

I wanted to try something fun like that with my own figures/dolls in the past, but I never had the courage to actually do it. Just thinking about how embarrassed I'd get if someone were to stare at me with strange or disapproving looks on their faces... 😖

Sometime later when I was browsing the #PixarLuca tag on Twitter, I saw @klein__inin__ posting very cute photos of their own Luca and Alberto plushes at Tokyo Disneyland. I imagined the fun they must have had going around and taking pictures with their plushes... and then I had a realization. Is it all right if I too could take photos and have that sort of fun? I have a Magic Key pass, am fortunate enough to live near Disneyland, and have my Luca plushes... Can I really step out of my shell and do it...?

I decided that, yes, I will take this opportunity and do it!

Silenzio, Bruno!! 🙌

Bringing the Fish Boys to Disneyland!

Now that I have decided to bring Luca and Alberto with me to Disneyland, I was getting pretty excited for my next visit!

Though, I decided not to take my plushes. I am a big germophobe and didn't want to get them dirty, aha... So instead, I chose to bring my Mattel Luca and Alberto figures! They won't get dirty as much and are easy to hold and put away in a bag. Plus, they can do all sorts of dynamic poses!

In mid September 2021, I went with my sister and brought the fish boys for the first time to Disneyland. Here is one of the very first photos while we were in line for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance!

From that point on, I brought Luca and Alberto with me on every trip to Disneyland and DCA! With the Magic Key pass, it was great visiting the parks as many times as I like and photographing all sorts of different places. I had a lot of fun imagining what sort of shenanigans the fish boys would get up to in the parks, hehe. And to my surprise, I even got a few compliments from park guests passing by! 😳

After a few trips and amassing a number of photos, I thought about making a blog account. However... I am very much a lurker who stays out of the spotlight, with little experience in being a, uh, "content creator" (sounds weird saying that about myself!). It was intimidating, but I wanted to share at least a small bit of the joy I had while taking these pictures of the boys!

When deciding on the name for the blog, I imagined Luca and Alberto finally getting their Vespa, fulfilling their dream of traveling the world together, and having many adventures! And it turns out one of their destinations is Disneyland, lol. Although it's not the most creative name, this was how I came up with Luca⭐Alberto🐟Adventures🛵!

Though sometimes it feels like this account should be named LucaAlbertoDates instead! ❤

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... And I guess that is all I have for now! I apologize for writing this massive wall of ramblings, but thank you very much for sticking around to the end!

I wouldn't have started this blog without my sister urging me to go to Disneyland with her, Enrico Casarosa and the entire Pixar team who created such a beautiful movie that I love very dearly, and @Bonn102, @sunny_day_o, and @klein__inin__ for the inspiration to go out and do something I've wanted to do for a long time.

The reason this blog has kept going is the support you have given since the beginning! It makes me very happy, and I hope to continue this for as long as I can!

To end this post, here is a sneaky photo my sister took while we were riding the Disneyland Railroad train on a recent trip, along with my photo of the boys while this was happening!

#update