#my team did a fantastic job on it go check it out ;;;

[littleulvar]

box art I created for the upcoming Kinfire Council game ✨ (with KS launch coming soon)

#my team did a fantastic job on it go check it out ;;; #i had fun on that one aaa #my art #board games #tabletop #kinfire

[serickswrites]

Set Up III

Part 1 Part 2

Hero stayed in Lair a month before they worked up the courage to seek out Supervillain one on one. The villain had looked more and more exhausted each time Hero saw them, but their engagement with their team never wavered. They were so different from Superhero. 

“I want a mission,” the words tumbled out of Hero’s mouth clumsily and quickly as they stood in front of Supervillain in the garden. 

Supervillain looked up from the book in their hand. “What?”

Hero swallowed. “I want to go on a mission. I’ve been training. I’ve run them before when I…when I was with Superhero.”

Supervillain nodded. “I’m aware. I wasn’t sure you wanted to work.”

“I need to do something. I’m useless at everything here.”

Supervillain stood up. “You aren’t useless. But I’m not going to argue with you. If you want a mission, assemble your team and I’ll find something for you to do.”

“Just like that?”

Supervillain smiled. “Just like that. Meet you in the briefing room in an hour.”

“You’re not going to tell me who I should and shouldn’t bring? Or that I should run it alone?” Hero called after Supervillain’s retreating back. 

“I trust you know your abilities better than I do. If you think you can go alone, I’d ask you to reconsider, but ultimately trust your judgment. Briefing room. One hour.”

Hero had their team of five in the briefing room in fifteen minutes. They were surprised to see Supervillain was already there. “Supervillain, we can come back—“

“No need. I thought you might be early. Simple extraction job for you. Just to get your feet wet. Right Hand,” they nodded over to the minion seated at a comm station, “will guide you through each check point. And they’ll be able to get you any aid you need if you run into trouble.”

Guide? Aid? These were foreign concepts to Hero for mission work. Superhero would just tell them to do something and chuck them out. There was no discussion or offer of help. This was…different. 

“Won’t let you down!”

Supervillain looked sad. “You could never let me down, Hero.” They stood up. “I’ll be in the field not too far from you if you need me.” They nodded at Right Hand. “Any of you.”

They were out the door before Hero could think to say anything else. They had never had someone in charge of them that was so hands on. Or kind. “They’re like that. Get used to it.” Right Hand said as they settled into their station. 

The mission went off without any hiccups. Each time Hero thought they would need to call for back up, more help arrived. Each time the team met a dead end, Right Hand was in Hero’s ear guiding them to the next safe space. 

By the time Hero returned to Lair they were never more certain of anything. This. This was the place for them. They had to stay. They wanted to stay. If Supervillain would have them. 

“Congrats on your first mission success,” Supervillain said as they swung by Hero’s room after Hero had been home an hour. “Heard you did a fantastic job.”

“Thank you,” Hero said as they felt their cheeks burn. 

“Keep it up, Hero. Really, you’re doing great here.” Supervillain turned to leave. 

Now was their chance! “I want to stay.”

Supervillain turned around to stare down at Hero. “You do?”

Hero nodded. “If you’ll have me.”

“Of course I’ll have you. But I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“I don’t. Working for you—“

“With you,” Supervillain corrected. “We’re a team.”

Hero blushed. “Working with you has been unlike anything I’ve experienced. Everyone here is so…kind.”

Supervillain smiled. “I would be delighted if you stayed, Hero.”

“And another thing. I think I should change my name. Superhero changed my name when I started to work for them.”

Supervillain frowned. “I’d love to know why they name all their apprentices the same thing. What would you like to be called?”

“Villain.” Hero Villain said proudly. “I think you’ve more than set me up for success.”

Supervillain smiled. “The person responsible for that set up is you, Villain. Welcome to the team.”

Tags: @severalonions @prompt-fills-and-writing-spills @st0rmm @newgait @random-writers-sideblog @thenamesmobu @whoelseuprebloging @hhabaddon2 @zokazoma13 @jkl-uwu @mooseontheloose21 @hittingthebrainsfunnybone @laurenhufflepuff2 @writinglike-illdie @crow-with-a-typewriter @myv1lla1nacadem1a @lorlibrary @bluelovestoship @whumpedydump @ann-whispers @otherwiseiamnotallowedtoscroll @starlightsphinx @captainskeleboi @jackthecrimekangarooekangaroo @wafflenuka @meltedgallium @justparkerpots @writingpromptsfordays @whatinteresthave @idiotswitcher @smooth-orange-pebble @generoushelpingofwhump @halfseafog @ksfallingthroughlife @blipblipbloop @saltyontheside @nebulousboundsfloof @uniquezombiedestiny @i-love-chocolates @clever-kills @whumpitywhumpwhump @keeper-of-all-the-random-things @frostmaster1000 @just-a-space-rabbit @daemonvatis @hopefullywritingahit

#serickswrites #short writing #hero #villain #superhero #supervillain #hero x superhero #hero x supervillain #villain x supervillain #hero x villain community #queue

[xanthippe74]

Masterlist of my “12 Days of Fandom” recs, inspired by this post. As always, please check the tags and author's notes before reading. Enjoy!

🔸 Terminal Lucidity by @romaine2424 (Drarry, HD Career Fair, rated G, 3K) This bittersweet fic has Harry putting his abilities as Master of Death to good use by comforting those close to death themselves. We see him at work here, adeptly easing the way for someone dear to him with compassion and care. I found this story incredibly moving and a beautiful portrait of family ties in the face of an impending loss. Featuring older, established Drarry and the Black-Malfoy family.

🔹 Our Objective Remains Unchanged by @citrusses (Drarry, rated E, 46K) Gorgeously and vividly written, this university rowing AU drew me in right from the get-go, despite the fact that Muggle AUs are not my typical cuppa. The enemies-to-lovers tension is perfectly paced as Harry and Draco fight for the same spot on the Oxford team. Citrusses did a fantastic job translating their backgrounds and personalities (as well as those of other familiar characters from the books) into this world. Class divisions and the pressure of a highly-public sporting event stand in very effectively for Harry’s canon experiences. All in all, the story has the poignancy and drama of a lush coming of age film, and I can’t recommend it highly enough!

🔸 The Pile by @b-vul (Drarry, not rated, about 1.5K) This hilarious ficlet was born out of littlewinnow’s tumblr post about Veela!Harry performing an intricate mating dance to impress Draco. Delightfully, it’s from Harry’s POV as he blindly “trusts his instincts” to guide him into increasingly bizarre actions. And the evolution of Draco’s reaction is pure comedy gold. I’ve come back to reread this one a couple of times, and it never fails to have me in stitches. (The tumblr thread also contains adorable art by regretfulcorrine!)

🔹 Shine on, You Crazy Diamond by @lagerloutfic (Drarry, HD Mpreg Fest, rated E, 42K) This is one of those fics that you can’t stop reading once you start (something I confirmed this morning when I went to skim through it for this rec and wound up spending a few happy hours devouring the entire thing again). It’s laugh-out-loud funny and deliciously smutty, with a full cast of delightful side characters and just the right amount of feelings. The story begins with the discovery of Draco’s surprise pregnancy, then switches to a long flashback of Harry’s gay awakening and his fast sexual/slow emotional burn relationship with Draco. The entire fic has a joyful feel—banter-filled pub nights, chaotic family dinners, audacious curse breaking—culminating in the baby’s arrival, which left me in happy tears and wishing for another 40K of this fabulous story. Featuring confident Harry, supportive friends & family, hot Charlie, and some shamelessly kinky Unspeakables.

🔸 Silhouettes by @sweet-s0rr0w (Draco/Ron/Harry, Dronarry Fest, rated E, 16K) Draco/Ron/Harry is not a ship I’d ventured into before I read this fic, but I’m so glad I did! Sweet’s writing always hits the right spot in my brain, and her alternating POVs and spot-on characterizations of all three boys are delightful. I especially loved Ron’s sexy self-assurance here. The unique magical theory around sentient houses is fascinating and ultimately poignant, once Draco gets to the root cause of the Burrow’s behavior. Sweet-sorrow surely lived up to her username with this one, weaving grief with humor and a heartwarming resolution.

🔹 Harry Potter Gets a Job (A 106-Page Comic) by dustmouth (Drarry, HD Career Fair, rated M) Dustmouth’s comics never miss, I swear! In this one, we find Harry overcoming his distrust of Draco with the help of the Weasleys, especially Ron (who is definitely up to something himself). All of my favorite Dustmouth elements are here: the expressive characters, Draco’s wild wardrobe choices, and punchy dialogue galore. Also featuring drunken shenanigans at the Burrow, adorable Teddy, and some first-class Slytherin-ing by Draco to win his man (and find Harry that job). What a treat!

🔸 the earth from a distance by spqr (Drarry, rated E, 15K) A whirlwind time-travel fic with breezy humor, bedsharing, and spqr’s unmatched smut with feelings… What more could you ask for in a fic? Oh, yeah: fantastic worldbuilding for Hogwarts in 1599, brilliantly clever Draco, and a dash of enemies to lovers. I can never get enough of this author!

🔹 A Year In The Life by @ladderofyears (Drarry, HD Career Fair, rated M, 19K) I swear, the author conjured a little bit of magic to write this story. It’s told entirely with 50-word microfics, one journal entry for each day of 2006 (an impressive feat, by itself!), and yet it reads just as smoothly as any traditional fic. Draco’s voice is perfect here, full of wit and subtle emotion, as his and Harry’s developing romance takes a sharp turn with an unexpected pregnancy.  Draco’s anticipation, worry, and joy are mixed with deftly-chosen details of his daily life, all captured with Emma’s trademark tenderness and warmth. This fic is a perfect comfort read for family feels and gentle romance.

🔸 try to fix you by @maesterchill (Harry/Ron/Hermione, HP Snooze Fest, rated M, 2K) A beautifully and tenderly written hurt/comfort fic set in the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts. Ron is the glue that holds the trio together here, caring for Harry and Hermione with gentle devotion. There’s no dialogue needed to tell this story, just Ron’s perceptive POV that captures the grief and love that compel him. I have a soft spot for this triad forming immediately after the war, as a way of holding onto each other and holding themselves together. Maester’s fic makes their transition from friends to lovers feel like the first step towards healing.

🔹 The Scent of Soft Rains by @dodgerkedavra (Drarry, HD Career Fair, rated E, 20K) When Harry is left housebound and isolated by a traumatic injury, magical prosthetist Draco gets called into help. But Harry’s struggles go far beyond the physical ones. This recovery fic combines magical and non-magical therapeutic treatments in a way I can’t remember reading before. The hurt/comfort is just as it should be—both heart-wrenching and soothing—but there are enough surprising revelations to keep the story from feeling predictable. Draco is wonderfully unflinching and patient, and the ending left me crying happy tears. With lovely, restrained prose and vivid magical imagery, this one’s an absolute stunner.

🔸 Connecting Lines, Connecting Crimes by @sleepstxtic (Drarry, H/D Career Fair, rated M, 15K) With its intriguing careers, fascinating magical theory, and well-researched worldbuilding, this story captured my attention immediately, and the mystery at the heart of it kept me engrossed. This was one of the more thought-provoking fics I’ve had the pleasure of reading, exploring the intersection of magic, the environment, and colonialism. Harry’s first-person POV is lovely, and it feels like we’re learning to love India and the people he meets along with him. The getting-back-together romance is gentle but satisfying, propelled by pent-up yearning that’s palpable. There’s so much to enjoy here, all in only 15K words!

🔹 Waking Up Slow by @sweet-s0rr0w and @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (Drarry, H/D Wireless Fest, rated E, 22K) The first word that comes to mind while reading this fic is charming. First there’s the novel setting: a Christmas shop in the tourist destination of Cheddar Gorge, in the middle of a July heatwave. Next, there’s the shop itself, so imaginatively described and full to the brim with clever Muggle and magical details. Then there are the delightful OCs, Draco’s seemingly unhinged enthusiasm for all things Christmas (including ridiculous jumpers), and Harry’s complete disregard for professional behavior. But underneath the playful banter and humor, there’s also a layer of poignancy to tug at the heartstrings, especially when we find out the backstories behind Harry’s and Draco’s unlikely careers. And to top it all off, like the glowing star on the tree, are Joy’s exuberant, colorful illustrations. This is a Christmas-y fic I’d reread any time of the year.

Thanks to all these brilliant creators for sharing their work with us!

Happy New Year!

#12 days of fandom #2023 favorites #drarry #dronarry #harry/ron/hermione #fic recs

[daily-hanamura]

Love your analysis of Yosuke’s character, it’s so detailed and fun to read! I’m kinda curious, what are your thoughts on his characterization in the fighting and dancing games?

Waaah thank you so much!! I'm glad you enjoyed them 💖

Oooh I actually LOVE his characterisation in p4d and p4au, probably because I think it brought out all my favourite parts of Yosuke and it really felt like Yosuke had matured a lot compared to his first appearance.

In P4A/U for example we see a lot of thoughts from other characters, and I really love that it's revealed how the others - not just Yu, but also Yukiko and Chie - rely on Yosuke a lot for emotional support, as the morale booster of the team, for direction when they don't know what to do, as the glue that keeps the group together, and it's so fantastic because it's so unlike how Yosuke sees himself. A lot of Yosuke's POV also reveals how much overthinking he does and how, despite his empathy in noticing when others are frustrated or worried, he feels like he doesn't do a very good job at cheering them up, even though when we look at their POVs we see that he did!! Both Yukiko and Chie call him up when they were worried about their friends going missing BECAUSE they feel better from talking to him!! Sorry but this particular factoid, this specific gap, sits in my head like a spitroast being rotated all the time because I cannot get over it. But he's trying though - we can see his motivations for the things that he says and how he tries to lighten the mood and yeah. It's great. I went into P4AU thinking it was going to be whatever but let me just say that was the game that triggered my single-minded obsession about Yosuke and the reason why this blog exists LOL like I was very much souyo and yosuke-brained aftert P4G but oh boy. P4AU tipped me over from obsessed to building this damn shrine for him :'D

He always laughs deprecatingly at himself even in the post p4g games, like in P4D - when he dances well he has a line that's like, "not such a disappointment after all" and it, again, really shows how he has such a poor perception of himself that he doesn't see his own good points, like the fact that he held out the second longest during their dance training, losing only to Rise, as pointed out by Yu. He's naturally talented and keeps up well with everyone elses dance style, but he doesn't really notice that either? Also a side thing I find hilarious/cute/endearing in P4D is also how Kanji exposes Yosuke's idol-loving-hours and Yosuke gets extremely embarrassed about it, because at his heart Yosuke does still like that kind of (somewhat) superficial thing, but he doesn't want people to know! It's a stark contrast to how he was earlier in P4G where he's more open about checking out girls (again, the whole "is this overcompensation" vs "is this a product of bro culture from his childhood friends" is a conversation that we can have) but it's a reflection of how that kind of talk tapers out a lot as the game progresses, and P4D was really consistent with the kind of growth that P4G gave Yosuke, instead of reducing him into that best-bro-friend stereotype, and for a game that was actually so short in narrative substance compared to P4AU, it was great. (I'm also convinced that P4D was trying to tell us Yosuke and Yu were dating but I'm not going to start on that again LOL)

And I think ultimately the reason why I feel like P4AU and P4D showcased a lot of growth for Yosuke is in his relationships with other people, because as much as Yosuke worries about how he's remained static, I think the fact that the others treat him with such respect (like when the first years and Teddie acknowledge that Yosuke is basically the team wrangler, and the difference between Yosuke at the start of P4G/in Magician compared to P4AU/D was someone who had become a lot more receptive about forming genuine relationships with other people instead of just protecting himself by surrounding himself with superficial relationships and yeah. yeah.

#asks #cosmic-stelar #is this anything coherent LMAO i feel a lot of thoughts #he's good with his queue

[skellyflowers]

Tour Bus Cuddles

Masterlist

Phantom x reader 

The European leg of the tour has been going fantastic so far. I was excited to be on the road and get the opportunity to travel around. However no one mentioned how hard being a Tour Manager Assistant would be! 

When Phantom dragged me into Brother Kevin’s office to nominate me as the new assistant I thought he was being a clingy boyfriend. He told me that he would miss me. I would miss him too. I was going to work on a schedule for us to still be able to still talk while he was gone. I wasn't expecting this. When Phantom first mentioned Kevin needing an assistant it was during our pillow talk so I didn’t take him too seriously.

I was surprised that Kevin made me his new tour assistant, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because of how hard headed Phantom is. Kevin has me in charge of checking in the band at any hotel we stay at, ensuring the Green room has what the ghouls need and running last minute errands. 

However this show is in the biggest arena so far. So I have to cover way more ground than before helping the ghouls and completing my pre-show checklist. And to make things more complex two of the main stage speakers have been damaged. Lucky us the crew as backup speakers, they are not as loud but they are just as good. Unfortunately for me that means I need to help load the new speakers off the crew truck and bring them half a mile from the parking lot to the arena. 

When it is time for a sound check I can’t feel my arms and can barely pay attention to what the merch team is telling me. It doesn’t help that Phantom likes to keep me up after shows and work out his leftover adrenaline. I love him and we always have a great time together but it is going to be hard to do my job if I can’t feel both my arms and legs.

I’m in the Green room sitting on the couch when the ghouls come back after they finish the sound check. Phantom closes in on me and sits in my lap like a little cat. He starts to purr like one too. I smile at his actions and start to scratch at one of his horns, he starts to purr even louder.

“I missed you babe.” Phantom says.

“It’s only been 30 minutes, Bat.”

“30 minutes too long.” he pouts, cuddling into my neck.

“GET THAT CUTE SHIT OUT OF HERE!” Dew yells, startling me.

“Shut up, like you aren't going to come to me and beg for attention.” Rain says, rolling his eyes.

Phantom doesn’t get off my lap until it is time for the ghouls to get on stage and Mountain picks him up. We hold hands and walk from the Green Room to backstage and give a kiss before he gets on stage to the screaming crowd.

The show is amazing, just as all the others have been. When the final bow is taken and Papa has said the last goodnight I help the crew take down the stage and pack up so we can get on the road as soon as we can. The process is smooth and we are able to pack up the crew bus in under an hour. A new personal record.

When I get on the ghouls’ bus I am exhausted. I am happy to be the first on the bus tonight. Papa could herd the ghouls perfectly without my help but I felt a little guilty about texting him that I went straight to the bus and crawled into the first unclaimed bunk I found. Ghoul shepherding is part of my job.

I started to fall asleep when I heard the bus door open and close. I hear footsteps shuffle around until they stop in front of the bunk row I am in. I also hear sniffing? The curtain separating me from the mystery ghoul in the bus slowly opens. I’m surprised that I see Phantom, eyes bright and tail wagging.

“This spot taken?” He asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

I let out a quiet giggle and scoot back as much as I can. Phantom gets a big smile on his face and crawls in next to me. He turns my body so he can be the big spoon, his second favorite cuddling position. If it was always up to him I would be laying on top of him at all times. I find his hand and lace our fingers together and he starts purring against my back and plants a kiss on my neck.

“Did you have fun at the concert?” I ask.

“It was fun, Swiss fell off his stage. But I missed you.”

“Maybe if you teach me to play the guitar Papa will add me to the band.” I said as a joke.

“That’s a great idea. We can start tomorrow.”

“You are so silly, Bat.”

“It is a good idea. We could spend more time together.”

“You never leave me alone. You're the reason I got this job.”

“And I will never give you a moment's peace.” He says, giving me a squeeze.

“We can talk about it in the morning.” I say, with a yawn. “Love you Phantom.”

“I love you too, My Angel.” kissing the back of my head.

I let his purring lull me to sleep as the other ghouls get on the bus and settle in for the overnight drive to the next sold out area.

#the band ghost #the band ghost x reader #the band ghost fic #nameless ghouls x reader #nameless ghouls #phantom ghoul #phantom ghoul x reader

[a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives]

‘Our Flag Means Death’ Sneak Peek: Inside Blackbeard & Crew’s New Season 2 Looks

Breakups aren’t easy, but that’s especially true for the new and improved — depending on how you look at it — crew of the Revenge in Our Flag Means Death Season 2 premiering Thursday, October 5th on Max, as Blackbeard, a.k.a. Ed (Taika Waititi) continues to unravel after Gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) abandoned him in Season 1.

As with the end of Season 1, Blackbeard recedes even further into the persona of himself painted by various wanted posters. He’s sporting the same black eye makeup as he did in the first season’s finale and also influencing the way his crew looks while serving him aboard the vessel previously helmed by Stede. Above and below, we’re delving into some of those details with exclusive photos, exclusive interviews, and a brand-new clip teasing the dynamic aboard the Revenge.

In the sneak peek, below, times are tense for Frenchie (Joel Fry), Jim (Vico Ortiz), Fang (David Fane), and the newest member of the team, Archie (Madeleine Sami), as they observe Blackbeard’s second in command, Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill). As seen in the minute-and-a-half exchange, Izzy’s getting testy with the shipmates when they question orders to throw treasure overboard. “It is not your place to tell me what does or does not make sense. It is your job to follow my f**king orders,” Izzy spits, emotion welling in his makeup-darkened eyes.

Fang is the first to note that Izzy doesn’t seem to be doing fine, and Jim steps forward to add, “Yeah, we think you’re in an unhealthy relationship with Blackbeard.” Additional tidbits from the crew include the fact that Blackbeard does “a lot of rhino horn” and he’s cut off more of Izzy’s toes.

In other words, Ed’s downward spiral is wreaking havoc on Izzy and the rest of the gang. But depending on how you feel about certain pirate looks, their exterior makeovers are sure to excite, regardless of the reasoning behind them.

“[Blackbeard] sort of has this Mad Max thing that we already established in Season 1, that’s so gorgeous and so unique to [him]. So I just wanted to up that ante,” costume designer Gypsy Taylor tells TV Insider. “We started with that Mad Max black leather violent side of him, and he’s sort of infiltrated this crew now. So they’ve taken it upon themselves to become Beard’s crew in whatever circumstance they’re in.”

“They’ve all taken to that color palette of the black leather and filth, which makes ’em look mean,” Taylor adds with a laugh, but makes it clear, “individually, I wanted to give [them each] a really unique look.” Teaming up with Taylor to accomplish that look is hair and makeup designer Nancy Hennah, who enhances the fantastic clothing ensembles viewers will see onscreen.

“We spent a lot of time working out what we were going to do for the raid makeups,” Hennah says of the Revenge crew. “Blackbeard in particular has lost it a bit and is really going off on a tangent, and the rest of the crew have kind of been pulled into that. We spent a lot of time working out what products were going to be good to emulate [something like the] grease found on the boat and they’ve smeared it on their faces.”

“Blackbeard is really struggling with having lost Stede and is leaning into that dark side, which is frightening for everybody else, but they’re sort of trying to play along,” Hennah continues. While fans may have already seen previously-released photos of the crew, Taylor and Hennah dug into their personal archives to share exclusive sketches and behind-the-scenes photos to provide a closer look at their process and each individual character’s look aboard the Revenge. Check them out below.

Our Flag Means Death, Season 2 Premiere, Thursday, October 5, Max

“With Jim, that’s a huge transformation,” Taylor says about star Ortiz’s onscreen evolution. “It was a really exciting one. We talked about it a lot with Vico, and I wanted to bring in a whole lot of ropes and things that they would’ve found on the ship to make an outfit out of and a giant fishhook that we made a belt out of.”

When it comes to the Revenge crew’s ensembles, there’s a focus on found materials doubling as clothing, “so sort of scrounging and finding elements around pirate ships that they could make a costume out of,” Taylor elaborates, noting that the pirates are being resourceful in “almost the same way that drag queens do.”

When it came to styling Ortiz in their costume alongside the other crew members, Hennah says, “Vico had a great new hairstyle, which we were really excited about, and we cut that early on in our testing phase. Then they had to hide [it].

Everywhere they went, they were wearing a hat.” It was all about “getting the right balance between the amount of hair on top and the amount of hair that we took [off] on the side,” she adds of Jim’s mohawk sported by Ortiz, which can be seen in the sketch and behind-the-scenes test photos.

Similar to Jim’s found fashion, Frenchie’s sporting an edgier look this season that is supposed to look like stolen wares from another pirate. “Because pirates steal a lot,” Taylor says, “they’ve quite often got cool things that they’ve stolen off of other pirates. And that’s where the inspiration for Frenchie’s jacket came.” As fans may recall, Frenchie found cats particularly terrifying in Season 1, so it makes sense that he’d emulate the feline, which has a motif on the back of his coat according to Taylor.

“Maybe he stole it from another pirate ship, and then he made it his own by putting this sort of ode to Desperately Seeking Susan on the back of his jacket with this rearing cat, which in the first season, the cat was very innocent lightly licking his paw, and now we’ve gone really manic and bad,” says Taylor.

Meanwhile, Blackbeard’s soft-spoken, but brutish when-needed crew member is enhancing his look from last season with some ornamental additions. “We didn’t want to change Fang too much, but I incorporated a whole lot of new elements to his costume,” Taylor teases. “So he’s got the teeth of sperm whales all around his necklace, and then he’s got walrus teeth coming out of his jacket. So he’s sort of made a new look based on animals that he might’ve found out in the open seas, like dead carcasses and things like that.”

This behind-the-scenes shot from Hennah offers a closer look at Fane’s Fang on set.

An exciting aspect of the season for Taylor and Hennah was the addition of Archie to the crew, giving them something new to craft. “Archie’s now part of the gang, and she’s just a badass,” Taylor gushes. “We figured she was sort of deep from the dark alleyways of New York in her sort of street punk aesthetic.”

One piece of Archie’s ensemble is an homage to one of Taylor’s favorite films, The Warriors. “She’s wearing a little Warriors red leather gang jacket,” Taylor shares, adding, “Her t-shirt is a really cool, very subtle print of Blackbeard’s wanted poster.” Why? “She’s a bit of a fan girl,” Taylor notes. “She really looks up to Blackbeard and how bad he is.”

When it comes to tattoos, Hennah says, “I try to talk about their personal heritage and where they’ve come from and if there’s anything that they want in terms of tattoos.”

For Sami, Hennah sought out designs with Fijian and Indian influence to reflect the actor’s personal heritage. “I approached a Henna artist, and we just got her to do a drawing of some designs,” Hennah reveals. “And then Madeline and a few of the other makeup team [members] and I spent about four or five hours just turning those little puzzle pieces into the tattoos.”

Sami loved her tattoos so much that Hennah says she was told Sami “is thinking about getting one of the tattoos for real.”

And when it comes to Izzy, he’s not changing things too much. “He’s just a man of his own. He wouldn’t really listen to Blackbeard,” Taylor says. “So there were very subtle things [that we were going to do], like adding studs to his gloves so that when he beat up people, it was a little bit more violent.

But in the end, we took it away. He’s enough of a badass on his own.” Ultimately, the only real change people will see on Izzy went the show returns is, “He got a bit dirtier from being at sea. We broke him down more, added a bit more sort of salt and all those crusty sort of overlays.”

When it comes to the crew’s man in charge, Blackbeard’s transformation has evolved a bit since viewers last saw him in Season 1. “I wanted to keep his leathers because pirates, as you see in Season 1, are at sea for a really long time. They don’t have a closet, unlike the Gentleman pirate Stede. So they’re always just wearing the same thing and getting dirtier and dirtier and dirtier.”

When a pirate dons a new garment though, it’s usually stolen. Such is the case for Blackbeard, according to Taylor: “We figured he’d stolen this black leather jacket in a raid, but he’d sort of made it his own in his own manic way, much [like] he’s done with the ship where [things are torn down and burned].”

Wanting to reflect the season’s production design in Blackbeard’s coat, Taylor says, “We burned it, and we ripped it, and we added six different belts to the sides that are holding it together, which would be like he murdered six pirates and stole their belts. And he’s started to collect a little bit more jewelry. So you’ll start to see some new rings and a little lovely pearl necklace that he’s stolen off of someone at the wedding party [seen in the teaser trailer] perhaps.”

As for Blackbeard’s makeup and hair, Hennah says, “We stuck mostly around his eyes. It just looked more sinister, and he was a lot more disheveled. He spends a lot of time this season wet, which is a bit of a nightmare when you’ve got beards and wigs and drying and getting back to dry. He has always had two wigs, and we got an extra one made this season as well because we were having to swap between wet and dry a lot.”

Apart from the extra wig, it was the tattoos that made up Blackbeard’s biggest makeup change. “We added quite a few tattoos,” shares Hennah. “I think in Season 1, he had around 24 tattoos, but at times this season, we were up to 30, and three of them were the big chest tattoo and then a brand new back tattoo. I worked with Dean Sacred at Sacred Tattoo for the big back tattoo design. He did a beautiful drawing for us of the skull with the snake coming out, the skull’s eyes with the snake crying.” As fans can see, the snake and skull sit above another tattoo with the words “Trust No One.”

Will he ever trust again after Stede left? Only time will tell.

Source: TV Insider

#our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #taika waititi #vico ortiz #david fane #con o'neill #joel fry #madeleine sami #Youtube

[crescencestudio]

Intertwine!! WOW - you and your team did such an amazing, stunning, stellar, fantastic job. This story is going to stick with me for a while. it is also SO inspiring to know something so powerful can be created in so short a time period. You devs are absolutely crazy haha (but in a good way).

I've been eyeing some of the other Jam submissions, but... but there are so many. Are there any you have played and would personally recommend? Ideally with similar themes or softer stories?

ahhh thank you so much anon!!!!! i’m so happy it left an impact like that :’) i hope it leaves u with the happiest, warmest feelings <3 and yes! i was rly excited about otojam bc it would be this little story and experience that had to be contained within two months (in complete opposition to alaris which has taken eons). i would recommend a jam for any creative person it’s such a fun, helpful way of pushing urself to see what u can create in as little time as possible 💖

there are a lot of otojam submissions this year. very much like a little christmas for our community haha ^^

i haven’t gotten a chance to check out many bc catching up with work and resting but the ones that have caught my eye that might be in a similar genre are:

Project Blue

Silhouette (this one is very high on my list. i love another game this team has put out and this particular game looks very light hearted and fun/sweet!)

LyteLove

Potion Panik

Between: Stardust Rail (haven’t seen a lot of ppl talking about this one but the art is extremely pretty and soft!)

When the Wind Blew You Away (in terms of “softness” i’d say this game seems closest to intertwine! it seems to explore some of those softer, longing, intimate parts of love)

#asks #intertwine #anon

[splitting-infinities]

To Perish Twice

It's finally time to post my contribution to the 2023 Malevolent Big Bang!

Introducing a spooky, gothic ghost story inspired by Jane Eyre:

This fic also includes some stunning pieces created by two absolutely wonderful artists, Court @rawkingbunny and Drake @genderfluid-draws. You can find their art and more on their linked Tumblrs! They're also embedded in the fic during the corresponding scenes.

Court also created a fantastic podfic to go along with this story, which will be linked to the fic on AO3 as a related work. You can also listen to the entire thing on Spotify here.

Stay tuned for a masterpost that will include all pieces created by our team once everyone's posted them.

Special thanks to @cosmya, my good friend and long-time beta for being a second set of eyes during editing.

And finally, thank you to the organizers of @malevolentbigbang, who did an incredible job orchestrating such a fun event. If you have a chance to send some love their way, please do!

Don't forget to check out the rest of the amazing works in the 2023 Big Bang collection, which you can find here.

Hope you enjoy!

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #malevolent big bang 2023 #mbb2023 #writing #arthur lester #john doe

[danmeiljie]

Just Say It: 说

Remember this scene:

It is one of my favorites from Advance Bravely.

We get Flirting. Awkwardness. Tall actor/models making other tall actor/models look tiny. The almighty Loom. So it made me want to remind myself how this scene played out in the novel.

I thought the phrasing "just spill it" and "dont be mouselike" was a bit odd sounding to me, and since American English is my first language and Im forever inexplicably interested in Mandarin, I wanted to do some research.

DISCLAIMER: This post is in no way attempting to criticise or put down the original translation team and their work on this novel. They did a fantastic job with this insane story! Im just being a very curious language learner. Neither am I claiming to have any training as a translator or in the Chinese language. I am just taking advantage of the few tools available to me.

@sugarbabywenkexing helped me think this thru and got me the screenshots from the show. Thank you friend! She also worked on updating a translation for her own gif project and was the one to catch the difference between the book and the drama. We both found that they adapted the scenes from the book very faithfully as they could!

Note that the line in Mandarin in the novel and the line in the show are a little different. Notably, the show drops the little bit at the end and takes out a character:

Line from novel: “下次再想吃就直接说，可怜劲儿的。”

Line from script: 下次再想吃直接说。

First I decided to see what google translate does with the line. Google is usually hit or miss for me, but I find if you include enough context it comes out okay.

Line from the novel:

Line from the script:

(Im ignoring the improper usage of "I want" since I already know the subject of the sentence is "you" or Xia Yao and not Yuan Zong, the speaker)

I noticed the difference between "mouselike" and pathetic and decided to consult Pleco, my favorite chinese dictionary app.

Seems that it checks out.

Also the Mandarin verbage of "直接说" which google is saying means "speak directly", seems to be fairly straightforward enough, and my guess is, the phrasing "spill it" is trying to invoke his casual tone by relying on english slang. It made me think at first there was a euphamism going on here since this novel is chock full of sexual innuendos, but it seems the Mandarin here is not a slang term. (Native speakers welcome to correct me!)

CONCLUSION:

I love the flirting tone of Yuan Zong here. Xu Feng does a great job portraying that with his performance and the voice actor who delivered the line had great inflection. I guess the script writers decided to cut out the "its pathetic" comment, but I like it for this scene in the book.

I think the original fan translation does a creative job of expressing Yuan Zong and his teasing of Xia Yao, but like I said it felt a bit unnatural in English and if I were to take a stab at the line, I'd go with something closer to the MTL.

"Next time if you want to eat some, just say so. It's pathetic."

Why does any of this matter?

*shrugs*

It doesnt really like I said before I love languages and am curious about translation and wanted to see for myself. The gist of the scene as written in the novel comes across accurately in the fan translation and the drama adaptation.

Remember, if you want something, just say it. ;)

Thank you to the original translation team for allowing me to read this danmei novel! Unfortunately I like it too much.j

#说 #中文 #xu feng makes learning mandarin fun #advance bravely... meta?! #advance bravely has a plot i swear #advance bravely #xu feng #gong jun #my bad gifs #chai jidan #shengshi #danmei #chinese bl #censored bl #yuan zong puts the dom in domestic #l watches advance bravely

[londonspirit]

Breakups aren’t easy, but that’s especially true for the new and improved — depending on how you look at it — crew of the Revenge in Our Flag Means Death Season 2 premiering Thursday, October 5th on Max, as Blackbeard, a.k.a. Ed (Taika Waititi) continues to unravel after Gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) abandoned him in Season 1.

As with the end of Season 1, Blackbeard recedes even further into the persona of himself painted by various wanted posters. He’s sporting the same black eye makeup as he did in the first season’s finale and also influencing the way his crew looks while serving him aboard the vessel previously helmed by Stede. Above and below, we’re delving into some of those details with exclusive photos, exclusive interviews, and a brand-new clip teasing the dynamic aboard the Revenge.

In the sneak peek, below, times are tense for Frenchie (Joel Fry), Jim (Vico Ortiz), Fang (David Fane), and the newest member of the team, Archie (Madeleine Sami), as they observe Blackbeard’s second in command, Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill). As seen in the minute-and-a-half exchange, Izzy’s getting testy with the shipmates when they question orders to throw treasure overboard. “It is not your place to tell me what does or does not make sense. It is your job to follow my f**king orders,” Izzy spits, emotion welling in his makeup-darkened eyes.

Fang is the first to note that Izzy doesn’t seem to be doing fine, and Jim steps forward to add, “Yeah, we think you’re in an unhealthy relationship with Blackbeard.” Additional tidbits from the crew include the fact that Blackbeard does “a lot of rhino horn” and he’s cut off more of Izzy’s toes.

In other words, Ed’s downward spiral is wreaking havoc on Izzy and the rest of the gang. But depending on how you feel about certain pirate looks, their exterior makeovers are sure to excite, regardless of the reasoning behind them.

“[Blackbeard] sort of has this Mad Max thing that we already established in Season 1, that’s so gorgeous and so unique to [him]. So I just wanted to up that ante,” costume designer Gypsy Taylor tells TV Insider. “We started with that Mad Max black leather violent side of him, and he’s sort of infiltrated this crew now. So they’ve taken it upon themselves to become Beard’s crew in whatever circumstance they’re in.”

“They’ve all taken to that color palette of the black leather and filth, which makes ’em look mean,” Taylor adds with a laugh, but makes it clear, “individually, I wanted to give [them each] a really unique look.” Teaming up with Taylor to accomplish that look is hair and makeup designer Nancy Hennah, who enhances the fantastic clothing ensembles viewers will see onscreen.

“We spent a lot of time working out what we were going to do for the raid makeups,” Hennah says of the Revenge crew. “Blackbeard in particular has lost it a bit and is really going off on a tangent, and the rest of the crew have kind of been pulled into that. We spent a lot of time working out what products were going to be good to emulate [something like the] grease found on the boat and they’ve smeared it on their faces.”

“Blackbeard is really struggling with having lost Stede and is leaning into that dark side, which is frightening for everybody else, but they’re sort of trying to play along,” Hennah continues. While fans may have already seen previously-released photos of the crew, Taylor and Hennah dug into their personal archives to share exclusive sketches and behind-the-scenes photos to provide a closer look at their process and each individual character’s look aboard the Revenge. Check them out below.

Our Flag Means Death, Season 2 Premiere, Thursday, October 5, Max

“With Jim, that’s a huge transformation,” Taylor says about star Ortiz’s onscreen evolution. “It was a really exciting one. We talked about it a lot with Vico, and I wanted to bring in a whole lot of ropes and things that they would’ve found on the ship to make an outfit out of and a giant fishhook that we made a belt out of.” When it comes to the Revenge crew’s ensembles, there’s a focus on found materials doubling as clothing, “so sort of scrounging and finding elements around pirate ships that they could make a costume out of,” Taylor elaborates, noting that the pirates are being resourceful in “almost the same way that drag queens do.”

When it came to styling Ortiz in their costume alongside the other crew members, Hennah says, “Vico had a great new hairstyle, which we were really excited about, and we cut that early on in our testing phase. Then they had to hide [it]. Everywhere they went, they were wearing a hat.” It was all about “getting the right balance between the amount of hair on top and the amount of hair that we took [off] on the side,” she adds of Jim’s mohawk sported by Ortiz, which can be seen in the sketch and behind-the-scenes test photos.

Similar to Jim’s found fashion, Frenchie’s sporting an edgier look this season that is supposed to look like stolen wares from another pirate. “Because pirates steal a lot,” Taylor says, “they’ve quite often got cool things that they’ve stolen off of other pirates.  And that’s where the inspiration for Frenchie’s jacket came.” As fans may recall, Frenchie found cats particularly terrifying in Season 1, so it makes sense that he’d emulate the feline, which has a motif on the back of his coat according to Taylor. “Maybe he stole it from another pirate ship, and then he made it his own by putting this sort of ode to Desperately Seeking Susan on the back of his jacket with this rearing cat, which in the first season, the cat was very innocent lightly licking his paw, and now we’ve gone really manic and bad,” says Taylor.

Meanwhile, Blackbeard’s soft-spoken, but brutish when-needed crew member is enhancing his look from last season with some ornamental additions. “We didn’t want to change Fang too much, but I incorporated a whole lot of new elements to his costume,” Taylor teases. “So he’s got the teeth of sperm whales all around his necklace, and then he’s got walrus teeth coming out of his jacket. So he’s sort of made a new look based on animals that he might’ve found out in the open seas, like dead carcasses and things like that.”

An exciting aspect of the season for Taylor and Hennah was the addition of Archie to the crew, giving them something new to craft. “Archie’s now part of the gang, and she’s just a badass,” Taylor gushes. “We figured she was sort of deep from the dark alleyways of New York in her sort of street punk aesthetic.”

One piece of Archie’s ensemble is an homage to one of Taylor’s favorite films, The Warriors. “She’s wearing a little Warriors red leather gang jacket,” Taylor shares, adding, “Her t-shirt is a really cool, very subtle print of Blackbeard’s wanted poster.” Why? “She’s a bit of a fan girl,” Taylor notes. “She really looks up to Blackbeard and how bad he is.”

When it comes to tattoos, Hennah says, “I try to talk about their personal heritage and where they’ve come from and if there’s anything that they want in terms of tattoos.” For Sami, Hennah sought out designs with Fijian and Indian influence to reflect the actor’s personal heritage. “I approached a Henna artist, and we just got her to do a drawing of some designs,” Hennah reveals. “And then Madeline and a few of the other makeup team [members] and I spent about four or five hours just turning those little puzzle pieces into the tattoos.” Sami loved her tattoos so much that Hennah says she was told Sami “is thinking about getting one of the tattoos for real.”

And when it comes to Izzy, he’s not changing things too much. “He’s just a man of his own. He wouldn’t really listen to Blackbeard,” Taylor says. “So there were very subtle things [that we were going to do], like adding studs to his gloves so that when he beat up people, it was a little bit more violent. But in the end, we took it away. He’s enough of a badass on his own.” Ultimately, the only real change people will see on Izzy went the show returns is, “He got a bit dirtier from being at sea. We broke him down more, added a bit more sort of salt and all those crusty sort of overlays.”

When it comes to the crew’s man in charge, Blackbeard’s transformation has evolved a bit since viewers last saw him in Season 1. “I wanted to keep his leathers because pirates, as you see in Season 1, are at sea for a really long time. They don’t have a closet, unlike the Gentleman pirate Stede. So they’re always just wearing the same thing and getting dirtier and dirtier and dirtier.” When a pirate dons a new garment though, it’s usually stolen. Such is the case for Blackbeard, according to Taylor: “We figured he’d stolen this black leather jacket in a raid, but he’d sort of made it his own in his own manic way, much [like] he’s done with the ship where [things are torn down and burned].”

Wanting to reflect the season’s production design in Blackbeard’s coat, Taylor says, “We burned it, and we ripped it, and we added six different belts to the sides that are holding it together, which would be like he murdered six pirates and stole their belts. And he’s started to collect a little bit more jewelry. So you’ll start to see some new rings and a little lovely pearl necklace that he’s stolen off of someone at the wedding party [seen in the teaser trailer] perhaps.”

As for Blackbeard’s makeup and hair, Hennah says, “We stuck mostly around his eyes. It just looked more sinister, and he was a lot more disheveled. He spends a lot of time this season wet, which is a bit of a nightmare when you’ve got beards and wigs and drying and getting back to dry. He has always had two wigs, and we got an extra one made this season as well because we were having to swap between wet and dry a lot.”

Apart from the extra wig, it was the tattoos that made up Blackbeard’s biggest makeup change. “We added quite a few tattoos,” shares Hennah. “I think in Season 1, he had around 24 tattoos, but at times this season, we were up to 30, and three of them were the big chest tattoo and then a brand new back tattoo. I worked with Dean Sacred at Sacred Tattoo for the big back tattoo design. He did a beautiful drawing for us of the skull with the snake coming out, the skull’s eyes with the snake crying.” As fans can see, the snake and skull sit above another tattoo with the words “Trust No One.”

Will he ever trust again after Stede left? Only time will tell.

#our flag means death season 2 #ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #spoiler #our flag means death #ofmd #article #sneak peek #tv insider #sooo much spoilers!!!! #Youtube

[altschmerzes]

Thoughts on the new ted lasso episode?????? I have so many conflicting opinions re: zava

well first of all this is how i enjoyed it:

i will be repeating the experience weekly. cannot more highly recommend cosymode ted lasso.

as for the episode itself- [shrieks into my hands] i'm gonna put some thoughts under a cut, both generally and re: zava specifically, thank you for asking. these thoughts are not going to be at all organized and mostly composed in run-on sentences i am so sorry.

IM ALSO.... CONFLICTED ON ZAVA I THINK though it's interesting bc as i was watching the episode i kept getting like, OUTRAGEOUSLY distracted by..... [checks notes] not knowing what his first name is. this is not a joke. it was ACTIVELY distracting for me. i kept telling myself sometimes people are like this. like cher. you don't need to know his first name. and then two minutes later someone would mention him again and i'd be like What Is The Man's Fucking Name Though. it was so bizarre lmaooo.

honestly re: the man himself i'm like!! idk!!! jamie is clearly already way in his feelings about this and i can only imagine it's going to get worse which is gonna be. fucking delicious if we actually get to spend some time with and unpack it because 'i feel like i'm being replaced and i'm getting anxious/upset/lashing out about it' is one of my favourite sources of Angst Plots. we shall see. i am as always a combination of hopeful and anxious.

the dude playing him really did a great job striking a very specific and identifiable vibe for someone who had like Three Lines of dialogue and whose face we saw clearly like once.

i feel like i have two diverging paths in front of me with this guy's arc and it's either gonna be 'i'm riveted and having a great time' or 'please get this dude out of my face' and no in-between

and now for some general thoughts:

didn't realize this was the chelsea episode and somehow still had 'chelsea dagger' on repeat while cleaning up and getting ready to go cosymode. (i am stealing that song from its association with the chicago hockey team. it whips too hard to be left to them.) enjoyed the accidental reference when i turned on the tv and saw the title. also kept remembering a couple irl friends who are chelsea fans and having myself a giggle.

speaking of 'great time' vs 'get this out of my face' how relieved am i that they've now bait-and-switched me TWICE with fucking. love triangle bullshit. with roy and keeley and jamie. when he followed roy and not keeley i was like. oh thank fuck. the ensuing scene was both very sweet and very funny. they are welcome to continue bait and switching me on this as long as the switch Continues To Happen but if this goes in a Direction i am not gonna be thrilled.

something is brewing with keeley's company. it's not gonna....... go well, i think. something is gonna come to a head there, i got the feeling from the drop, and i'm not sure what or how yet but something's gonna give with that. all those scenes have this weird like. tension to them that i can't quite put my finger on and im intrigued to see where it goes.

i actually really like the CFO woman? she seems like a very interesting character and i think she and keeley could balance each other very well.

my jamie and dani besties agenda is flourishing. so is dani's hair. it's fantastic and i want to braid it.

oh speaking of hair back to zava for a second. beard pulled up the footage of him and i literally said out loud, pronouncing the letters not the word 'motherfucker': "oh this mf has my haircut"

AND SPEAKING OF DANI when he said "fuck off trent crimm" i think i shriek-laughed so hard the whole block heard me. dani my fucking beloved. i adore you.

y'know who else had a good episode here? isaac. his body language thing was so good. it made me laugh and also was a SPECTACULAR look into him as a person. every time we get a scrap of characterization on one of the secondary richmond player characters i dance around like the soot sprites with the candies in that ghibli movie i can't recall the title of off the dome.

i probably overblow this in my head, right, because everyone thinks their own perspective is like Super Unique or something but i really do think being an enormous irl sports fan is enhancing the experience i'm having with this show so much. watching the fans unfurl that banner for roy and cheer for him like that was like... immediately a half dozen welcome back tribute videos and player homecomings i've watched raced through my head and i was literally in actual physical tears. both bc of what was happening on screen and bc of All The Rest Of That in my head.

speaking of. oh my gd my heart hurt so much for roy as soon as he pulled that fucking. newspaper clipping from his wallet. i liked that he ripped it up at the end but i do wish it had come a little harder. he's been carrying that thing around for 20 years i'd have liked to see a biiiiit more of a battle over letting it go. still. holy shit and the bit at the end? about leaving chelsea? winded me. WINDED ME.

to be honest this was a rough one for him all around. i cannot imagine everyone i know making my breakup front page news in THEIR life too. which is like- they mean well and it's obviously coming from a good place and the people talking to him directly - jamie, ted, etc - are like. trying to be kind and supportive but if i were him i'd want to run away and also die in a hole about it so. big #felt that whole thing. even so, i do also have to say-

the roy's hyperbolic violence/threats thing is Back With A Vengeance! we know how i feel about this. i had a whole post about how i feel about this. it's a Bit, i know, it's a goof, this being a comedy show and roy being The Angry One but still i just. i feel like they take it a liiiiiittle past the pale in this ep, in general and also with jamie specifically. roy flying at him in the locker room during the big 'who's on first' round robin was a Bit Much for me - and i know i harp on this a lot but i maintain my stance here - given their history to this point. ted saying to roy near the end of the episode that like, he needed to get his act together or he'd be ruining more than one match was a good touch that did a lot to defuse some of my unease with this running thread but. it was still there and i was still a little [oh boy.gif] about it.

anyway so now i'm knee-deep in a fic about That.

overall it was spectacular, i really enjoyed it. knocked out of the park episode thank you so much.

i have many more discrete thoughts but i have to clip it here my keyboard is starting to lag lmaoooo

#gav gab #gav answers #ted lasso spoilers

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - February 26th

 Hello, friends!!! Here’s the fantastic stories I read this week! Check ‘em out and be sure to leave a comment/kudos for your authors! 

~*~ 

love sees loveliness by ArabellaAM, meidui (orphan_account), ohjustpeachy

In which every attempt at getting rid of Steve's crush on Tony only makes it worse.

these embers of hurt by meidui

When the people he loves get hurt, their wounds show up on his body, and the serum races to heal him before it kills him.

(The job makes it easy to pretend, but sometimes, just sometimes, there's a dark twisting thing that curls protectively over his heart, snapping at the people he loves—you did this to me. You hurt me.)

met my destiny (in quite a similar way) by ishipallthings

“I’m in love with you.”

The spatula in Tony’s hand clatters to the floor with an audible thwack.

(In which Tony is incredulous, Steve is determined, and absolutely no pancakes are made for breakfast.)

spring little cobra (getting ready to strike) by robertdowneyjjr

When Steve got off the couch to go looking for Tony today, he didn’t think he’d be shoving his tongue down the other man’s throat the moment he saw him.

If You Can't Say Anything Nice, Say It in PowerPoint by gogglor

The team gets fed up with Steve and Tony's mutual pining and decides to lay things out for them in the bluntest, most obvious manner they can think of.

Steve and Tony use a similar approach in their response.

Standalone fic.

Jurassic times call for Jurassic measures by Fluffypanda 

A trip to the Savage Land goes very, very wrong.

And I Won't Die For Love by tinystark616

Tony never thought it could happen to him. He's heard of it before of course, but just like most diseases, you always hear about it happening to other people. You never expect it to happen to you.

More With Every Breath by KandiSheek

Steve gets hit with an alien pathogen that turns his senses up to eleven. All of his senses.

Tony never thought he'd have to protect Captain America's virtue from himself, but here we are.

For All The Pleasure And The Certainty by KandiSheek

Eve Rogers has her hang-ups about the twenty-first century. One of which goes by the name of Antonia Stark. And with her comes... well. A whole host of confusing things.

Take a Shine by Rowantreeisme

Tony flew through the portal with a warhead in his hands.

He let go, and he wasn’t scared.

Safest Hands by Annie D (scaramouche)

In the one universe sideways, it’s 2016 and the Avengers have fled underground in the wake of what is the worst streak of bad luck they've ever had. Steve, Tony and Natasha are on the run together, and take temporary cover at a friend’s house.

Inside/Outside (the freedom remix) by Robin_tCJ 

Tony Stark's mentor and second-in-command, Obadiah Stane, has framed him for international arms dealing, and Tony has wound up in prison, sharing a cell with Steve Rogers, a Special Ops soldier who doesn't belong behind bars, either.

Dead Man’s Hand by Fluffypanda

Sheriff Steven Rogers receives a visit and a warning from an Iron Man

Middle of Nowhere by ChocolatePudgePop, janonny, peculiva, thisissirius, XxWanderlustxX (franzwantscoffee)

“How much longer?”

“About five minutes since the last time you asked.”

Tony huffs and Steve rolls his eyes good naturedly. It’s not that Tony can’t walk, it’s that he chooses not to unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Touch Me, Taste Me, Tell Me I'm Not Fading... by Firelightmystic

Steve dies on a Saturday.

Steve strolls into the common room’s kitchen Sunday morning like nothing is wrong, and makes himself comfortable at the table.

calling my bluff on all my usual tricks by ArabellaAM, Sagana_Rojana_Olt

When Tony’s father forces him to spend his summer in Fort Bragg building the Jericho missiles, he sets out to make all those soldiers’ lives miserable just out of spite. He’s succeeding until he first meets General Steve Rogers. He only needs one look at him to know he wants his hands on him.

And what Tony wants, he gets.

rutted old road by meidui

It’s his loneliness screaming, out here in the mountains where nobody else is, begging to know—are you like me?

#stevetony weekly #stevetony fic #stevetony #stevetony fic rec #Steve Rogers #tony stark #captain america #Iron Man #fic rec #rec lis

[galaxy-brain-rasslin]

Just some quick thoughts on All In. There will be spoilers.

Zero Hour

I, 100% did not expect Adam and MJF to win, at all. I expected there to be the initial start of a betrayal or something. I was pleasantly surprised, since I love the two of them.

Aussie Open seems really good. I should probably check out ROH.

Hook is one of my favorite anime protagonists, and Jack Perry has improved so much by being a complete piece of shit.

Also, Taz being hyped up for everything Hook does will literally never get old. Dude just sounds so proud every damn time.

CM Punk vs Samoa Joe

I don't really care a whole lot about CM Punk. I've seen a few of his pre-AEW matches, and I think he cuts a fun promo. I also think he's clearly enjoying himself, which makes watching his matches more enjoyable, in their own way.

That said, watching Samoa Joe just beat the absolute fuck out of Punk for most of the match was beautiful. I missed Joe in the original ROH and TNA/Impact, but his NXT and WWE stuff was so fun. Joe works at such a great pace, too. He literally always feels like a threat.

Seeing "real world championship" in quotes every time they mention CM Punk’s belt always reminds me of when AJ Styles was being announced in WWE as "The Man Who Would Like to be Announced as 'The Face that Runs the Place'"

Golden Elite vs Bullet Club Gold w/ Takeshita

Juice Robinson is my favorite feral little gremlin in pro wrestling.

Jay White is a beautiful piece of shit and I love him for it. He's also so fucking good in the ring.

Takeshita is also fantastic and has been consistently great.

I love how much everyone hates Don Callis.

Golden☆Lovers OTP

Hangman Adam Page is one of all-time favorite wrestlers. Just always happy to see him out there.

Ibushi tried to murder people with his kicks and it was fantastic shit.

A shitty surprise pin on Kenny Omega is absolutely on brand. I was peeved in a good way.

FTR vs Young Bucks

Fuck the Revival. I also like FTR a lot. Been a fan of theirs since NXT, and I loved seeing them draped in gold not that long ago.

I don't always feel like watching a Young Bucks match, but I always enjoy the match when it's done.

FTR and the Bucks were top-tier tag team wrestling today.

I legitimately expected FTR to lose, given the legal troubles that Cash could be facing. Seeing FTR win was a nice surprise.

FTR having arm bands for Brodie Lee, Bray Wyatt, and Jay Briscoe was so sweet, and so sad.

Stadium Stampede

Find someone who loves you as much as Eddie Kingston hates Claudi Castagnoli.

Mox looked so fucking cool walking out.

Oh my god, Trent, why, what the fuck. Please stop.

Someone getting skewers stabbed into their heads will always make me wince and laugh simultaneously.

Penta being walked backstage by medics only to return as Penta Oscuro was amazing shit. Penta is great.

Wheeler Yuta is the perfect person in BCC to be a bloodthirsty little goblin that you want to see eat the pin. He does his job well.

Also Best Friends hugging Yuta only to beat him up was gold.

I lost track of what was happening at least 400 times during the match and I don't care. I was thoroughly entertained.

Dr. Britt Baker, DMD v. Toni Storm v. Saraya v. Hikaru Shida

I assumed Saraya was going to win as soon as I saw her come out to Queen with her entire goddamn family walking out.

Toni Storm is a beautiful disaster.

In the event that Saraya wouldn't be winning, I didn't want Britt to win.

But that's also primarily because I *wanted* Shida to retain. Also, I love that Shida's theme has big 90s X-Men vibes.

Shida in general is just great. She should win every match.

I also just had no real investment in Brit for this match. She just kinda felt like she could have been nearly any other woman from the women's division. She wasn't *bad* by any means, just not someone I was pulling for or against.

I'm curious to see what happens with this implosion of the Outcasts now that Saraya and Toni aren't on good terms.

I dislike Ronnie Radke musically and as a person, so I'm not really thrilled at the idea of hearing Saraya's music more now that she's the champ.

At the same time, given all the shit she's been through, I can't be too mad about them giving her a run.

I still want Shida to have an actual good, long run though. I love her matches.

Christian Cage & Swerve vs. Darby Allin and Sting

Schiavone shouting "IT'S STING" is one of my favorite things in wrestling.

Joker Sting is fun as hell.

Swerve is actually the coolest motherfucker on the entire roster, and it is a literal crime that he doesn't have a belt.

Christian Cage is a menace and I can't get over that he wrestles in a sleeveless turtleneck now.

Darby is here for a good time, not a long time.

Sting is SIXTY-FOUR GODDAMN YEARS OLD AND SHOULD NOT BE DOING THIS STUFF.

Darby shouldn't either, but I'm fairly certain he's not even human anymore.

I love Swerve.

I also love Prince Nana.

Getting all of Wembly to shout "Swerve's house" probably felt cool.

This was fun as hell.

Will Ospreay vs Chris Jericho

bruv

Ospreay is so fucking good, dude. Like he's absolutely up there as one of the best to do this. Every match I've seen of his just blows me away.

Jericho is also absolutely one of the most versatile wrestlers of all time. I've seen this man reinvent himself like a dozen times, and every time feels just as natural as the one before it.

If they had Jericho win, there was going to be a riot.

Plz give me more Ospreay matches. Dude can fucking go.

I'm curious to know what happens with Jericho and Sammy now

House of Black vs The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn

HOB walking out with a lantern 😭

The Fireflies 😭

HOB looks so cool in white, holy shit.

I love Julia's hats.

I am not a cop, so obviously I love The Acclaimed.

Billy Gunn coming out in full-on Badd Ass Billy Gunn trunks made me feel like I was 12 again.

I love HOB, but if The Acclaimed didn't win this, after their whole mini arc of Gunn retiring, and Gunn bringing back BABG, I was gonna be mad.

Is there a rule that someone has to wreck Julia's shit every match, because lmao

A lot of fun.

Brody King scares the hell out of me.

Adam Cole vs. MJF

I went into this expecting heartbreak

Adam Cole, who took character inspiration from Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2, comes out sporting some definite Broderlands-vibe gear.

MJF is still wearing BTYBB gear.

MJF as this babyface-leaning thing is actually some of the greatest shit I've ever seen. The whole turmoil over using a weapon feels like Roddy Piper vs Bret Hart.

Cole being a desperate POS to the confused, hurt, and mad MJF was wonderful.

The tombstone onto the announce desk with metal reinforcement was brutal on my knees as a viewer.

lol Roddy. lmao.

MJF and Cole almost having a total falling out after the match was amazing.

Cole opting not to slam the AEW belt into MJF's head after the match, and they hug instead? Cinema.

Was I still deeply concerned that there was going to be a betrayal literally up until the PPV feed stopped? Oh hell yes. I watched Ciampa turn on Gargano after the little copyright stuff showed up in NXT. I will *still* be concerned about that until the moment it happens.

That said, I genuinely don't want it to happen because these dudes work so well together. They're just so fucking dorky in the best way.

Misc. Other Thoughts

I missed whatever happened with Miro and Hobbs, because I just missed the whole first hour of Zero Hour.

Apparently there was Drama involving Punk and Jack Perry-- I guess related to the use of actual glass in the windshield of the car that Hook and Perry wrestled on? Whatever. Punk isn't why I watch this stuff, but I would rather Perry not get screwed.

Why did they keep panning over to Mercedes Moné if she wasn't gonna do anything other than vibe to The Acclaimed's theme?

That being said, I was loving the wig she had on. I've been liking the shorter-cut wigs compared to the long-ass stuff she was wearing as Sasha Banks

A lot of people kept expecting Edge to show up at some point. I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that his contract was extended.

Overall, this was, in all honesty, probably the best wrestling PPV I've ever watched. And, thanks to the invention of VHS tapes in my youth and the WWE Network as an adult, I have seen a *lot* of PPVs. This felt bigger than any Wrestlemania I've watched. I can't compare it to Wrestle Kingdom because I've never actually seen one of those all the way through. But it had numerous people who have been in Wrestle Kingdom matches, which were great.

I'm just annoyed that All Out is next goddamn week, because I don't want to shell out $100 in two weeks for this stuff.

Regardless. I love wrestling. We are in one of the greatest eras of pro wrestling, if not *the* greatest. What a time to be a fan.

#all elite wrestling #aew all in #aew spoilers #pro wrestling

[blueberry-lemon]

When trailers outshine themselves

I like watching trailers. Maybe even more now than I used to.

I’m well aware that the purpose of a trailer is to build hype and interest. It’s a commercial, to get you to buy something. In some cases, they spoil or ruin the very story they’re advertising. In some cases, it’s way better to go in “blind” than to look at marketing materials.

But, like many of us, I can’t help myself.

I really love a good trailer. It’s a cool artform. Somewhere between an advertisement and a music video. And because the trailer is such a different artform than the actual movie or game that it’s advertising, sometimes the trailer itself is even better than the final product. Sometimes I’ll go back and rewatch a trailer over and over, even after I’ve completed the actual thing it was hyping it.

I write this post not to complain about being disappointed about films or TV shows or games, but rather to give a shout-out to the trailer teams who I think did a fantastic job with their assignment.

The first examples that always jump to my mind are from Marvel Studios. I think they’re pretty great at trailers. I started noticing this when they started making their Disney+ shows. 

WandaVision: Both the initial trailer and the mid-season trailer are fantastic. I’ve watched them over and over. They do a good job of being charming, romantic, and lovesick. They do an even better job of being mysterious and unsettling. It’s a pitch-perfect way to get you to buy into the concept and want to check out the show. I enjoyed watching the full WandaVision show, maybe moreso than any other MCU Disney+ show, but I wouldn’t hesitate to admit that I like these two trailers even more than the show. Kudos to the editors that put these together.

Falcon and the Winter Soldier: I had absolutely no intention of watching this show. I’m not particularly interested in this genre or either of these two characters. But the trailer sold me on it, with its hype music choices and intense cutting. I ended up enjoying the show enough in the end, but definitely not as much as this hype trailer.

I thought Marvel did a great job again with Loki’s trailer and Hawkeye’s trailer. Loki’s trailer makes the show seem a lot more mysterious and surreal than it actually ended up being, haha. Hawkeye does that classic “sweet Christmas music juxtaposed with action sequences” trick.

They got me again with Moon Knight, a character I didn’t know anything about. Although I’ll give credit, I feel like Moon Knight was about as weird and wild as the trailer hyped up it would be. So in this case I think it was a satisfying match.

Another satisfying match? The trailers made for Undertale. The release trailer and Nintendo Switch trailer come to mind. They’re fun, funny, and show off how the game works. I love this unique version of the Bonetrousle track that they use, which becomes very dramatic and grandiose. They’re also good examples of including original material into trailers that aren’t actually in the final product. That practice, generally speaking, doesn’t bother me. I don’t mind if trailers “lie” or show different footage, so long as it’s effective and doesn’t feel misleading. 

There are other trailers that I feel like match pretty well. I didn’t feel any gulf in expectation or emotion between the trailers for Avengers Infinity War + Endgame versus their final movie versions.

The trailers for Pixar’s Turning Red made me blubber and tear up, and the full film completely lived up to that and even exceeded it. So for me, that was a great film where the trailer editors captured it perfectly.

And for an example of one where I felt mixed on the end product, both the trailer for Pixar’s Elemental and the full Elemental film felt pretty equivalent to me. It wasn’t my favorite movie in the world, and I feel like I got that vibe accurately from the trailers.

But now, finally, for the trailers that brought me to writing this.

I really love the trailers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

I’ll include two here. One is the “release date announcement”, and the second was the “theme song announcement” that was aired at The Game Awards.

This is great. It’s moody. It moves into one of the game’s fantastic battle themes (which is itself a sweeping battle rendition of the original game’s main theme.) It’s shows off how the combat works beautifully, intercut with tantalizing plot snippets. The trailer builds up mystery and adventure. It confirms that Yuffie and Cait Sith are playable. It shows cool Synergy combo moves. It manages to somehow transition gracefully into Golden Saucer minigame mayhem. Love it.

Another fantastic one. And the last piece of marketing material I would ever need to see to sell me on getting the game.

The trailer is split into two halves. The first half establishes the plot of the game. It gives us Cloud and Zack’s stories intertwined. It shows us weird, confusing story stuff that sets the Remake trilogy apart from the original. It shows us different environments you’ll travel through. Gives us a heartfelt conversation between Cloud and Tifa. Snippets of Barret’s story too.

The second half is the new original song for the game, No Promises to Keep, which was performed live at The Game Awards along with the footage. I really adore this song, to be blunt, so maybe that’s doing a lot of heavy lifting here. But it really makes me emotional and ties a lot of these disparate clips together. The animation of Aerith singing is beautiful, and it ends on a heart-tugging cliffhanger.

Now….my partner and I have been playing Rebirth. I’m early on, but they’ve only got about a quarter of the game left. We’re enjoying it, it’s great.

But…

…would it be out of line for me to say that the trailers are more effective than the game itself?

Much like WandaVision, the trailers for Rebirth sew all of the different scenes and emotions together into a seamless tapestry. It makes everything feel intentional, beautiful, well-paced, and packing an emotional punch. When my partner and I play the game itself, it feels harder for that intentionality and emotion to come through. Of course your mileage will vary. But, for me, it’s hard for the minigames to live up to the frantic montage when playing them in-game isn’t super fun. It’s hard for the emotional storytelling of the game to live up to the trailer when it’s spread out thin over hours and hours. Nothing in the game itself as made me feel as emotional or hooked in as these two trailers have, at least so far.

Again, this is not a knock on Rebirth. It’s the reality of how much easier it is to move hearts with a 2-minute trailer versus a 60-hour video game. A completely different artform.

And, most of all, it’s kudos to the trailer teams who work at Square and at all these companies for knowing the assignment and knocking it out of the park. I really love what they did with it.

#blogofkylelab #blog #final fantasy vii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #Youtube

[mysteryman-17]

Due to the sheer length (plus wanting to preserve the format,) you can find the accompanying dialogue for this post on Google Drive.

Time’s End is an AHIT/Undertale crossover AU of sorts, taking place in the aftermath of a timeline where you lose the final boss fight against Mustache Girl. You can find the write-up here! In addition, you can find the write-ups for the Neutral Endings and TimeWarp Route Requirements on Google Drive! The logo for Time's End was designed by @bittybattybunny. She's an incredible artist, be sure to check out their work here on Tumblr and over on Twitter!! (if it hasn't imploded by the time you're reading this post anyhow lmao.) This track was commissioned from Shade over on SoundCloud. Be sure to check out his work too!

Motifs:

Rush Hour

You can also listen to this track in high quality on the AU’s SoundCloud here, and separated into its own sections on Google Drive! The rest of the description is underneath the Read More.

The Empress takes the role of Undyne. She already had a major sense of resentment to Bow Kid before (however misplaced it may have initially been on other routes,) but as her cat goons are mercilessly whittled down to nothing in the Genocide route… something finally snaps, beyond the point of no return. She's consumed by the urge for vengeance for not just herself, but for all of her Nyakuza (the only ones she even remotely cared about aside from herself,) leading to her bringing out something that hadn't been thought about for years: a prototypical battle suit made for one of the Conductor's movies, stolen and (somewhat amateurishly) modified to be WAY more deadly by Empress' crew. It was intended as a "last resort" trump card, and is being used as just that in a sense. However selfish and ignoble her motivations may be, and as MUCH as people outside of the Metro fear/dislike her, Empress' final stand here will (ironically enough) determine ALL of their fates.

So! I'll be going back to work on Tuesday, albeit with some restrictions. Wish I'd gotten more done during my leave of absence, but oh well. (Also ik the name on this one is kinda weak sauce, but I can't think of ANYTHING else that even remotely fits the context soooooo XP) I'm still putting some finishing touches on one of the other tracks I commissioned, so I'm going even more out of order here with the Empress tracks for the Genocide route! In a bit of a parallel with the MEGALOVANIA (and also cause I thought it was fitting,) I actually suggested Antasma's Theme from Mario & Luigi Dream Team as a stylistic reference when commissioning this from Shade. He did a fantastic job of taking that and making it his own, while still being fitting for Empress (especially on this route.) Not much else to say here, so I hope you guys enjoy! (P.S. Yeah as you can tell from the included dialogue at the top of the description, it's been on-and-off, but I overhauled a key part of the Empress' lore for this AU so that it would make at least a BIT more sense. The overall AU doc goes more in depth!)

#a hat in time au #ahit au #ahit empress #the empress #deltarune #undertale #undertale au #ahit time's end au #time's end au #AHIT:TE!AU #a hat in time music #ahit music #music #audio #But The Earth Refused to Die

[romancomicsnews]

Who should play Mr. Fantastic in the MCU?

With the upcoming MCU Fantastic Four movie set for 2025, as soon as the writer's strike comes to an end, we will likely get our cast for the film dropped. Before that time comes, I thought I would give me two cents for who should play each role, starting with our leading man.

Perhaps the most over fan casted character in the past year, Reed Richards is a particularly hard nail to hit on the head. While the characteristics are simple enough, smartest man in world, leader of the fantastic, emotionally distant, maybe a bit awkward, borderline mad scientist, all of those traits can easily be attributed to a number of different actors.

Depending on how you want to play it, there has been a number of fantastic (pun intended) options thrown around the rumor mill: Penn Badgley, John Krasinski returning, Glenn Howerton, William Jackson Harper, Adam Driver, Matt Smith, and oh so many more.

While I like a lot of these and really wouldn't be upset with most of them, I thought I'd throw my three ideas in the ring.

I will also say, my initial pick was William Jackson Harper, but twitter and one of my favorite Fan Casters Nando V Movies (go check out their YouTube channel) already casted him. But if he got it, I would be very pleased.

Finally, I'll preface, I am going for originality. There have been SO many picks for Mr. Fantastic. I tried so desperately hard to pick actors I haven't heard brought up who can do an amazing job.

First, as always, let's look back and three renditions we got:

Ioan Gruffudd

I don't have strong feelings about this particular version of the character. He hit the notes he needed to but there really wasn't alot for him or Jessica Alba to do in the film.

Gruffudd did a solid job at playing the straight man, letting Evans and Chiklis play off of him fairly well.

He was also fairly good at playing a realistic nerd. He didn't feel like someone who was on the football team, which other Fantastics lacked. We need someone who can feel believably awkward. More Maguire less Garfield.

Miles Teller

*sigh* Fan4stic is definitely a movie.

Miles Teller and the cast do what they can with what they were given, but there isn't much for me to dissect here. Teller does a good job with the awkward nerdiness, but he lacks the believable confidence to be a leader. Fantastic should be confident in his intelligence, Teller wasn't there yet.

We need someone who can believably be a leader.

John Krasinski

I think for what he is given, Krasinski does a solid job at a particular kind of Mr. Fantastic. That is to say, he is a Mr. Fantastic who has done his three movies and has learned the importance of family and connecting with people and taking care of others.

That being said, as a flawed Fantastic, he's boring. Yes he is strong, confident, and feels like a leader, but that's all I'll give him.

So clearly, we don't have a lot to work with as far as definitive versions of the character goes.

What ethnicity is Mr. Fantastic?

Mr. Fantastic does not have a particular ethnic identity in the comics. There is one piece of comic lure that I think is interesting when discussing Mr. Fantastic, particularly in the MCU.

You see one of Reed Richards descendants is Nathaniel Richards, a time travelling super-genius from the 31st century, wo becomes a supervillain warlord known as..

Kang the Conqueror.

While his lineage is sometimes questionable, I think this wrinkle puts a potential for people of color playing this role.

However, Kang could be mixed, and with the fact Mr. Fantastic isn't really any particular ethnicity, I think casting anyone is okay.

Other Stipulations

Mr. Fantastic may be one of the major leads of the MCU moving forward. We are casting the main enemy of Galactus, Doctor Doom, and maybe even Kang. We are looking for a Downey or Evans, someone great.

As the leader of the Fantastic Four, we need someone who can believably be the smartest person in the room. With his powers, his intelligence, and his borderline madness when it comes to science, Mr. Fantastic should feel like a threat to someone like Doom.

I'm looking for someone in their mid 30s to mid 40s. He needs to feel older than Johnny but young enough to keep this going for awhile.

We need someone confident who could lead the team but can be a little awkward to be around. Almost Batman like.

I'd like taller and lanky as far as look goes, and if they can grow a nice beard that's a plus. Any ethnicity is good.

As always, I'm looking for someone who hasn't played a major superhero role.

Let's get into it:

3. Dev Patel

Kicking off our list with the safest choice, Dev Patel is one of those actors you're surprised isn't already a superhero. From roles in the Green Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, and Modern Love, Patel is a fan favorite actor with range to compete with the big names. At 33, He is the youngest person on my list and most qualified for the job.

He has played intelligent in roles like in Chappie, has done dangerous in the Green Knight, and villains in roles like Zuko (sorry I had to bring up The Last Airbender).

My worry with Patel is he may be a little too likeable. I want a character we can warm up to, which is hard balance. He also seems like an actor who could potentially be great as a different character. Maybe even Doctor Doom.

I definitely think he has the chops and the potential to be a great lead, not just for the Fantastic Four but the MCU.

2. Zachary Quinto

When casting in Sci-Fi, it's always good to cast someone who has pull in nerd circles.

Known for roles in Star Trek, Heroes, American Horror Story and Invincible, Zachary Quinto is always a treat to watch.

He was originally my top choice to play Doctor Strange in the MCU, but I think for those same reasons, he could do an excellent Mr. Fantastic.

Zachary Quinto is great at playing characters just a little off from human. Spock is a great example of this, but I'd look closer at Robot from Invincible. He displays real emotion through a robotic voice throughout the show, and quickly became my favorite character. I think bringing a little humanity to Reed can help us follow and grow with him as the movies progress.

Quinto also has a solid background in playing villains. He has voiced Lex Luthor, and even played a superpowered serial killer, Sylar, in the hit NBC series Heroes. I think having someone who can play a villain be beneficial to Reed, as he often feels closer to a villain than a hero.

My biggest concern with Quinto is age. At 46, he feels a bit older than I would prefer. Not that that should be a problem, but a younger Reed we can see grow into Mr. Fantastic is preferred.

Quinto also isn't typically a leading man. I'm not sure if I can see him leading the MCU in the same way I see Patel.

I think it would be a curveball pick that fans could get behind and end up loving.

1. Jerrod Carmichael

If I had a nickel for every time I casted a comedian known for stand-up over acting as my leading man, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

Jerrod Carmichael is one of my favorite comedians and writers working today. Known for his stand-up specials, the Carmichael show, and smaller roles in The Disaster Artist, Mid90s, and Transformers the Last Knight, Carmichael really came on my radar as an actor and a writer in his amazing movie On the Count of Three.

Also Directed by Carmichael, the film centers around two friends who decide they want to kill themselves after one last day of righting wrongs and tying up loose ends. It's an incredibly bleak, well acted, and at times funny movie, full of sadness and pain.

In the film Carmichael taps into a sadness and alienation I think would be perfect for Reed. In the film, he feels dangerous and alone.

We also known Jerrod can do comedy and likeable, which could eventually translate to a more balanced Reed Richards.

He also has a talent for writing. His stand-up special Rothaniel won him an Emmy in 2022. Imagine what he could do with Fantastic Four Screenplay.

Carmichael will also be starring in Poor Things, a new movie starring Emma Stone which appears to be getting buzz. Clearly he is expanding his acting portfolio, and the MCU is a great place to start.

I think if you want a surprise pick who can act, direct, do comedy, and write, Carmichael feels like the choice that would get people talking. I think he is the type of artist who should be leading big things like the MCU, and would look damn good wearing the 4 on his chest.

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#marvel #marvel comics #mcu #fantastic four #mr fantastic #human torch #invisible woman #the thing #ioan gruffudd #fantastic four 2005 #fan4stic #miles teller #john krasinski #matt smith #glenn howerton #william jackson harper #fancast #fancasting #marvel cinematic universe #dev patel #the green knight #slumdog millionaire #zachary quinto #heroes #invincible #robot invincible #sylar #heroes reborn #jerrod carmichael #rothaniel