#I found out they made a movie adaptation & of course I had to watch it

[helenofblackthorns]

sorry about being inactive for the past few days + still not answering the asks I received a month ago. unfortunately I will continue to be inactive </3

[daydreaming-nerd]

The Angel of Music (Azriel x Reader)

AN: guys this is always one of my emotional support movies/plays I’ve seen it a million times so it only seemed fair that I give it the ACOTAR collab it deserves. 

Summary: It was the inner circles first time at the theater and from the way the Shadowsinger was blushing they all had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last. (the reader plays Christine Daae in Velaris’ adaptation of The Phantom Of The Opera and Azriel falls in love with her, but he’s afraid that she won’t like him because of his scars because she choose Raoul in the play) Set between ACOWAR and AOFAS

Warnings: Angst because of Azriel’s scars, shy az, but so much fluff, (just a little Az brain rot, didn't take this too seriously)

Word Count: 3,070

It wasn’t the shadowsinger's usual scene. Bustling people dressed to the nines, plush red chairs, gold sconces, orchestras. But Cassian had been tirelessly trying to make Nesta smile, and Ferye wanted to try and get her sisters together, so here he sat in the box that Rhysand had purchased for the night. 

Nesta loved the music and dancing, Elain loved the romance, and Feyre loved the costumes and color palettes of scenes. Cassian wanted to see Nesta smile, and Rhysand would do just about anything Feyre asked of him. 

In all his 500 years of life, Azriel had never thought to go to the theater. When he was a child he heard of his parents going but of course, he never got to go. As he grew the idea of going to see a show simply never crossed his mind.

When the lights went down and the orchestra came to life he spent most of his time watching Cassian, who was watching a very intrigued Nesta. He stayed that way until a clap and a spark echoed throughout the room. At first, he thought there was danger, but as soon as he turned his attention towards the stage he saw the large chandelier raise itself to life bringing the dilapidated stage with it. Golds, reds, and vibrant colors filled the room. 

Still, Azriel had trouble following the plot. But as he watched Nesta and her sisters become entranced by the music and dancing. The loud organ had stirred something in him, but he didn’t truly feel moved until her. 

Think of me, think of me fondly when we’ve said goodbye…

Azriel was sitting in a box at the edge of the theater, but even from this distance, he could tell that she was the most beautiful female he had ever seen.  He scooted to the edge of his seat a tad just to be that much closer to her. Her voice was that of a siren, no not a siren, an angel. His shadows danced around his ears and his wings at the sound of her ballad. Even the rest of the inner circle seemed to be entranced by her spell. 

As the play went on he found himself becoming irrationally jealous of Raoul. The pretty Viscount had not given her a second look at the beginning of the play. It wasn’t until the organ sounded again that the sound of her voice graced Azriel’s ears. The woman walked through a mirror towards a masked man. 

Who was this masked man? Where was he taking her? It wasn’t until Mor rested her hand to where he was gripping his chair with white knuckles that he remembered it was just a play. He sat back in his seat more, trying to tell his shadows to calm down. But as her voice climbed and climbed that beautiful crescendo they twisted and turned around him. 

Azriel spent the rest of the play being utterly entranced by the beautiful singer’s relationship with the Phantom. The masked man was dark and radical, staying in the shadows where no one could see him. He observed her from afar. Much like the shadowsinger did himself in every aspect of his life. 

It was clear to him that the Phantom was in love with Christine. So when Raoul and Christine kissed he nearly felt his heart shatter. The way the Phantom mourned, and cried, it felt all too personal to Azriel. 

I  gave you my music, made your way. And now how you’ve repaid me, denied me and betrayed me…

  From there on out Azriel found himself rooting for the Phantom, the man he saw so much of himself in. He nearly shed a tear when he found out why the man wore a mask. A scared child in a cage made to perform. 

He looked down at his mangled hands sitting on the arms of his chair. He had known a similar childhood and had suddenly wished he had something like a mask to cover such torn flesh. Maybe then the beautiful woman on stage might look at him with that same lovesick gaze, she wore now for Raoul, but he knew that could never be.

For a moment he felt joy, seeing her kiss the Phantom with such passion, such love. Only for that joy to be extinguished like a candle when she walks out with the Viscount. Of course, she would choose him, life does imitate art after all. It wasn’t until the curtain went down and the crowd erupted in thunderous applause that Azriel broke from his trance, standing to applause with them. 

“Well that was wonderful,” Feyre beamed, linking her arm with Rhysand’s. 

“I’ll say, that girl sang like an angel,” Mor gushed, fanning herself with her program as we all made our way out of the box. “Even Azriel seemed to enjoy it,” the female smirked, bumping Azriel with her shoulder. She had seen the lovesick gaze in his eyes. 

“It was so romantic the way Raoul came to rescue her,” Elain swooned, grabbing her sister's other arm. 

“Oh please, the Phantom was the obvious choice!” Nesta huffed at her sister's comment. 

“Nesta, would you like to meet the cast? Maybe talk to some of the dancers?” Feyre asked, changing the subject quickly before conflict arose. 

Nesta thought for a moment and spoke again, “Yes I would.” all she said. 

Of course, it was an easy task for Rhys to sweet-talk his way backstage, the inner circle sticking out like a sore thumb as they weaved past props, costumes, and the ensemble. Azriel’s eyes stayed ever vigilant, unable to let go of years of training as they walked down a dark hall. A cast member opened a door at the end of the hall to reveal mirrors with glimmering faelights around them. Vanities with every manor of makeup and costume jewelry. Two men he recognized as the actors who played the Viscount and the Phantom. 

The Phantom had washed off the makeup that made his face look scarred. Once again Azriel wished he too had that ability. Rhys and Feyre shook both their hands introducing them to the whole inner circle, but Azriel paid no mind. His hazel eyes were searching for a hint of her.

“Oh y/n there’s someone who wants to meet you!” called out one of the actors. 

“Oh, really who?” called a voice so melodic Azriel just knew that she had to be an angel. 

His shadows wisped around him frantically, calling out her name in his ear, like they were excited to finally know it. Rhys and Feyre’s eyes looked to their friend and smiled at one another. 

She walked around from a changing screen, tying the strings of the robe she was wearing that looked similar to the one she had worn on stage. She nearly stopped in her tracks as she saw her High Lord and Lady staring at her. 

“My Lord, My Lady,” she bows. “It is an honor.”

“No, no, please don’t bow,” Feyre rushes over, bringing the singer upright. “If anything we should be bowing to you. You sang like a goddess out there, you are truly talented.”

“Why thank you, my Lady, I’m truly happy you enjoyed the show,” she smiled and Azriel’s heart all but glowed. 

“Please call me Feyre,” the High Lady smiles, extending her hand. 

“Y/n,” the singer replied, taking her hand and shaking it. 

Azriel kept to the sidelines as the inner circle conversed with the cast and crew. Feyre and Rhys praised the play director and claimed they would be purchasing their box for the rest of the season. Nesta picked the brains of the dancers and their instructor, Cassian listening dutifully behind her. Elain chatted up the Phantom and Raoul, both actors seemingly falling for her, once again showing how life imitates art. 

Mor talked to y/n, about what? Azriel didn’t know. But the second Mor caught Az gazing at y/n she held out a hand to him. 

“Y/n I’d like you to meet Azriel, spymaster for the night court,” Mor said, beckoning Azriel over. 

Azriel quickly put his hands behind his back, not wanting to scare her with his scars. He could’ve sworn he saw her cheeks tint a shade pinker as he approached, looming over her in size. 

“How do you do?” y/n asks.

It takes a second for Azriel to realize that her angelic voice is speaking to him.

“Oh um, very well thanks.” he stutters, already feeling like a fool. Gods she was even more beautiful up close, he found himself suddenly longing for the box that offered him sanctuary, or a mask like the Phantom had. 

“Did you um, enjoy the show?” she probed and Azriel realized that Mor had conveniently dismissed herself. 

“I did,” he said quickly. “You have a beautiful voice, I could’ve listened all night.” 

Once again he swore he saw y/n blush as she looked down at her feet, “Thank you, though I think I fell flat a little in the first song. Opening night and all,” she laughed nervously and oh Cauldron, the sound of her laughter was enough to make Az take one step towards her. 

“No it was perfect, all of it.” he spat out, not standing to hear her say one more bad thing about herself. 

“Well thank you Azriel,” she said and by the fucking Cauldron she smiled at him. His name fell off her perfect lips and she smiled at him. He must’ve been dead and somehow gotten to heaven, there was no other explanation. 

The rest of the inner circle watched the pair intently. Feyre sank further into Rhysand’s side as they both realized they were watching Azriel fall in love in real-time. The yin and yang of the pair was near poetic and Feyre told herself she would pain this exact moment tomorrow morning. 

“Y/n why don’t you come to dinner with us? We would love to hear more about you,” Rhysand smiled.

His words broke the trance y/n was in, “Oh my Lord I truly wish I could, but I have an early day tomorrow and my apartment is clear across town.” She apologized. 

“No worries, it sounds like we will all be back for tomorrow night's show as well. Though I would hate for you to walk home alone,” Rhys smirked trying to get Azriel to bite at the bait.

“Not to worry I make the trek all the time,” she smiled, picking up the many vases of flowers people had left for her on her vanity. 

“Azriel could walk you home, couldn’t you Az?” Mor chimed in and Azriel shot her a look. 

“Uh, yeah I could if you’d like,” Azriel mentioned stuttering over his words as he scratched the back of his neck. 

“Oh no I wouldn’t want to take you from dinner with your family,” she assured him, picking up two large vases of flowers. 

“Not at all, I would be honored to walk you home,” the shadowsinger said a little too quickly. Feyre tried to stifle her laugh in Rhys’ side, she had never seen her spymaster so flustered. 

“Okay then,” the girl smiled and soon enough they were off down the cobblestone street, their way lit by dim faelight. 

y/n’s pov:

“Your shadows are incredible,” I smile watching as the dark wisps carry the various vases of flowers down the road. 

I had been more than happy to have the High Lord’s shadowsinger walk me home. In all honesty, I was captivated by the male the moment I set eyes on him. Sure he was hard, dressed in black, and over a foot taller than me. 

A sane woman might’ve kept her distance from the male, he was dangerous after all. But I knew the moment he spoke that he wasn’t a threat. There was a quiet and gentle calm underneath all that darkness.

“Thank you,” he says and I swear I see him blush. “They seem to really like you.” 

“They do? How can you tell?” I laugh as one of the little fellas brush against my cheek like a cat brushing against an ankle. 

“They went wild when you were singing tonight,” he chuckles, seemingly remembering how they danced. 

“Really?” I ask balking a bit. 

“I’m serious, give it a try,” he smiles, motioning for me to sing again. 

I shrug and clear my throat before singing a line from the play, “Angel of Music, hide no longer. Come to me, strange angel,” I sang softly and sure enough the little shadows danced and swirled around me. Threading themselves through my hair and around my arms where they held my vases of flowers. 

“That’s amazing,” I breathe finally watching the small wisps die down, hiding behind their master like they were shy. 

“You’re amazing,” their master spits out and then blushes. ‘

I can’t help but feel myself blush too, shying away from the hulking Illyrian. He didn’t look so tough as his shadows carried dozens of flowers behind him. He had walked down the street with his hands behind his back the whole time, not needing to lift a finger. 

The little purple door I’m so used to seeing comes into view. Outside the cottage are dozens and dozens of roses and the light inside is out. 

“I leave these here,” I say gesturing to the flowers I’m holding as I set them on the front porch. 

“Why not take them home? Were they not gifted to you?” Azriel cocks an eyebrow as his shadows place the flowers neatly next to the ones I set down. 

I laugh starting back down the path towards my place, “I get so many, I can’t possibly keep them all. Marla is an elderly woman who lost her husband years ago. It brings her joy to have them, so I leave them for her. Besides it’s not like they’re from anyone special,” I shrug, subtly dropping the hint to Azriel that I’m not otherwise engaged. 

Azriel pauses beside me and approaches a rose bush blooming near one of the cottages. Drawing his dagger, he carefully slices off a vibrant red rose. Before offering it to me, he painstakingly removes every thorn with the same blade, as if to protect my hands from even the slightest prick.

“You deserve to have at least one flower,” he says offering me the rose. 

I blush and go to reach for it when I catch sight of his hand. The mangled and marred flesh. I can’t help but feel my breath hitch as I wonder who could’ve done such a thing to such a gentle soul. The scarred hand pulls back a bit as if realizing my staring. 

“I guess I’m more Phantom than dashing Viscount,” he utters sadly, referring to my play and my role in it. My heart shatters as I see his broken expression. 

“You know,” I smile, taking the rose from his scarred hands. “I always thought that Christine should end up with The Phantom, he was clearly the better choice.” 

His head whips up as if I’ve uttered an inconceivable phrase. “Even though he had ugly scars?” Azriel inquires, his face tight like he might not want to hear whatever answer I provide.

“Who said he was ugly?” I laugh, did this beautiful specimen of a male truly believe he was ugly because his hands bore scars? 

“So you would choose the Phantom?” he cocks an eyebrow as if trying to read if I was telling the truth.

“In a heartbeat,” I affirm confidently and honestly.

He takes a step towards me, his form getting even bigger, “and what about scarred hands? Is that a deal breaker?” he probes, holding out his hands so I can see that they both harbor similar markings.  

I shake my head taking another step towards him, appreciating the beauty that is him. From the white scars that ran up his hands, to the shadows that danced around him like they they were whispering to him.

“So if I asked you to dinner after your show tomorrow?” he queries taking a step towards me as well.

“I would ask you where we are going?” I reply feeling my cheeks heat up. Was he asking me out? I tried to push the butterflies down in my stomach.

“Rita’s ?” he shrugs, stepping forward. 

“Sounds like a plan,” I smile moving towards him more, like I was compelled to.

“I’ll swing backstage after the curtain closes,” he smiles, seemingly becoming more confident in himself as we step closer together just a few feet apart.

“I’ll put your name on the list,” I say, feeling his presence pull me in. 

“And if I were to send you flowers? What kind would you like?” he interrogates further. 

I think for a moment, no one had ever asked me what flowers I might like to receive. My eyes look around as if searching for inspiration until they land on a blue siphon adorning his chest that’s right in front of me. 

“Something blue,” I blush knowing that when I see the cobalt flowers on my vanity I will know they are from him. 

“Consider it done,” he smiles and I suddenly realize that we’re mere inches apart now. 

I turn to my right where the blue door to my house beckons to be opened. Pulling out my keys I unlock it and use my shoulder to shove it open as it always gets stuck. 

“Well,” I say shyly. “Thank you for walking me home,” 

“Anytime,” he smiles looking down at his feet. 

The sight of the bashful warrior on my front doorstep has me melting. His face is so beautiful and perfectly carved I can't help but lean up on my toes and kiss his cheek. I almost regret it when it’s over but the violent red of his cheeks makes me smile again.

“Well goodnight,” I say, trying not to let my words shake in the process. 

“Goodnight,” he smiles, brushing a hand against his freshly kissed cheek.

I close the door and place the single, thornless, rose he cut for me in a vase. It isn’t until I turn on a light that I hear him take off into the night and I swear I hear him let out a grand whoop from way up in those clouds.

Permanent Taglist: @fides25, @dissociated-always @crystalferret202 , @kennedy-brooke , @sunshineangel-reads , @lilah-asteria , @evergreenlark , @cheneyq

[thebellearchives]

I saw your fluff post for Gojo, and sheesh it was so good! If you're still taking requests for your event, can I request fluff #12 for Gojo? 💖

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐋𝐘

~ satoru gojo ; jujutsu kaisen

✧˚ · . S Y N O P S I S : it isn’t like satoru’s known for being the most serious of sorcerers out there, so why would’ve you taken seriously all of those flirty jokes of his?

‧₊˚ c o n t e n t s : gn!reader, fluff, friends to lovers, first love coded so this one’s about younger gojo!

‧₊˚ a / n : you’re so sweet anon thank you so much ! hope you like this one, i feel like it’s a little bit all over the place, but hopefully no one will pick up on it 💃🏻

Toge ver. || Sukuna ver. || Gojo ver.

“What’s so good about this movie anyway?” Satoru had rolled his eyes behind his glasses with a mocking smile, but still didn’t bicker much more when you sat him down in your couch to watch it.

Surprisingly, you found yourself asking that exact same question in your head. You were eager to watch it because it was an adaptation of a book you had read a long time ago, but now watching it in your TV screen you weren’t sure if was just a terrible adaptation or the book had been this bad too. Maybe you had just been a bit too impresionable when you read it. Maybe if you re read it you’d find out it was trashier than you thought.

Whatever it was your eyes had started to give up after a while, eyelids trying their best to close in search of some nice rest. And you probably would’ve fallen asleep already if it weren’t for this weird sensation of someone watching you. You were alone in your living room with Satoru, so there was no way anyone else had their eyes set on you, but every time you glanced at him he was absorbed in the movie.

You closed your eyes for a second, just a small bit of time to rest, but there it was again. Someone was watching you. So you turned to Satoru for like the fourth time, his blue eyes staring intently at the screen… a little too intently, honestly. You squinted, studying his facial expression. His lips were slightly pursed in an attempt to hold back a smile, and he was so stiff he wasn’t even blinking. Satoru was always up to something, and the fact that he kept you on your toes all the time was probably one of your favourite things about him. So you sighed and opened your mouth to ask what the hell was he up to, but he quickly turned to you with a cheeky smile.

“How long are you planning to stare at me?”

The question took you by surprise. Of course it did, he always did.

“Are you serious?” you quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah? This is like the fourth time you glance at me. Am I really that handsome?”

You giggled at that, you had always thought he was handsome, but… he was just your friend. Right?

“Am I really that beautiful?” you went along with his joke “I can’t fall asleep when I feel your eyes on me like that.”

“Is that so?” he smiled wider, moving closer to you and forcing you to pick up your legs against you chest to give him space “staring at you like what?”

Defiant, you moved closer to him too.

“That’s what I’d like to know. You keep staring at me instead of watching the film, so what’s up?”

“Me?” he tilted his head, pretending to be confused, biting his lip “I just asked you why you were glancing at me all the time, it was totally not the other way around.”

“You just did it before I had the chance to ask!”

“Nah, you were staring at me first” he winked, a cocky grin on his lips.

“Why are you so desperate for my attention?” rolling your eyes, you let your legs hang from the side of the sofa and straightened your back, leaning towards him just slightly.

“Because I keep trying to flirt with you and you keep dismissing me!” he whined, but his statement only made you laugh.

“What are you talking about?!”

He sighed and rolled his eyes, letting his shoulder hit the sofa.

“You know what I��m talking about…” his irises stared at you above his glasses, almost looking like he was giving you puppy dog eyes “I wouldn’t be here watching this trashy movie otherwise.”

You just stared at him, eyebrows almost meeting in confusion. Yeah, he had always played around like that. But it was just playing! He was always playing! … or was he?

“… 'Toru, are you being serious right now?”

“Honestly, how many times do I have to tell you I am being serious!”

“Listen to you! All whiny and childish, how am I supposed to take you seriou-”

In the blink of a eye, Satoru’s lips were on yours. It took you a second to warm up to his gesture, but your body relaxed. You closed your eyes, lifting up your chin and kissing him back. Your heartbeat quickened and your chest felt like it was on fire. Was your friend Gojo Satoru really kissing you then or had you fallen asleep? Maybe you were dreaming about it. Maybe you were dreaming about the way his lips insistently kissed yours, or about the way your hands held his face to keep him from pulling back. About the way his hands reached out to hold you by your hips, that tiny moment where he gasped for air and kept on kissing you passionately, until his body was hovering over yours and you weren’t sure if you were gasping for air because of the kiss or to calm down the fire he had started inside of you. He inhaled sharply too, your lashes fluttering in confused blinking. There was this longing in the air around you, a need for more of his kisses so unfamiliar to you and yet so alluring.

“Do you think I’m serious now?”

It was just finally making sense, all the pieces of the puzzle finally being completed in you head. All that playing around, smiles and jokes…

“Maybe. I’m not sure. You should kiss me again to see if that works.”

Satoru snorted, but he’d lie if he said he didn’t eagerly comply to that request.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Cyd Charisse (The Bandwagon, Brigadoon, Singin’ in the Rain)—LEGS LEGS LEGS I would sell my soul for the legs of Cyd Charisse - she oozed style and glamour and sex appeal!! And she could DANCE! She was dancing next to the greats - Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire but they are never who you're looking at because why would you when you can look at her. I will only sit through too long ballet breaks for her. If there was any woman who you could call sex on legs it was her. These dances are everything to meeee (she comes in at the minute mark) and this dance too of course is iconic. In the words of Fred Astaire 'When you've danced with Cyd Charisse you stay danced with'

Suchitra Sen (Harano Sur, Chaowa Pawa)—Suchitra Sen! She had a 25-year career in Bengali films, and was at the height of popularity for a solid two decades as half of the wildly beloved pair of Uttam-Suchitra, who were practically the entire romantic genre of Bengali films by themselves. She acted in literary adaptations, romantic comedies, (melo)dramas and inspired-by-current-events films. She was the first Indian actress to receive an international award at the Moscow International Film Festival. In 1978, after the release of her last film (a box-office flop) she pulled a Garbo and put herself out of the public eye completely. She made no appearances, gave no interviews, refused awards, all of it. She didn't even show up for her daughter's or grand-daughters' debuts! She was taken for funerary rites in a covered hearse! The glamour! The mystery! That blinding smile!

This is round 2 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Suchitra Sen:

Not to take away from her costars in Devdas (1955), but the great Indian cinematic tradition of Tragic Romantic Yearning would not, I argue, be what it is without Suchitra Sen's performance in that film. I root for things to turn out better for her every time, even though I know how things are going to go.

A Bengali cinema icon. Liked crows (per Gulzar, "It was an astonishing sight. The crows used to pick at the grapes from her hand").

Linked gifset

She once rejected Raj Kapoor's movie offer (one of the most successful actor and director at the time). She was quoted saying, “In men, I don’t look for beauty. I look for intelligence and sharp conversations. I had refused Raj Kapoor’s offer almost immediately. He came to my residence offering a lead role and, as I took my seat, he suddenly sat near my foot and offered me a bouquet of roses while offering the role. I rejected the offer. I did not like his personality. The way he behaved – sitting near my foot – did not befit a man.”

Legendary poet, lyricist, director and writer Gulzaar had this to say about her "Glad that my ‘Sir’—that’s what I call her— got the Dada Saheb Phalke award during her lifetime. Contrary to people’s perceptions, Suchitra Sen is an extremely warm and very very friendly person. I adore and respect her. But she has the right to choose her friends. Surely she’s justified in keeping away from every Tom, Dick and Harry. She’s the only example of such quiet dignity in show-biz. That’s why the media compares her with Great Garbo. Suchitra Sen is my Sir. I’ll explain. During the shooting of Aandhi she started calling me Sir. Everyone in Kolkata calls her Madame. Since I’m her junior I requested her not to call me Sir. But she insisted. (We always converse in Bengali). So I call her Sir and she calls me Sir.”

Linked musical number [won't let me display embedded for some reason]

Cyd:

Photos do not do Cyd Charisse justice, unfortunately, because she is at her hottest while dancing, which she was exquisitely good at. Just go watch her first number in Singin' in the Rain, in that green dress; nothing I could say here will be more convincing that that.

She had amazing legs, and she knew how to use them! You probably know her best from the dream sequence in Singin' In The Rain. She was such a stunning dancer, and all her dance scenes are hard to look away from.

Dancing in the Dark clip:

She's an amazing dancer and my favorite from the period. Here's her and Fred Astaire in the Band Wagon:

I just like a woman who's there to be really incredibly good at dancing.

One of the most talented female dancers in Hollywood history, but what sets her apart from other competitors for that title is that she...umm...well let's be blunt, she was the dancer who put sex into it. The one who said "Hey, you know that A+ leg tone that naturally develops from doing this for a living? Why don't I let people see that? Like at every opportunity?" She reportedly insured her legs for five million dollars after hitting it big, which just goes to show that fame makes you crazy. It should have been ten million.

Arguably the Best female dancer of her time, she supposedly insured her legs for $5 million dollars. Stole the show whenever she had a dance number, even if she went uncredited. Musicals started to go out of fashion so unfortunately she didn't have as many big roles as she should have, but those she did are unforgettable. The Broadway Melody number in Singin' in the Rain - the green dress!

She could pirouette in pointes or tear it up in taps. Fred Astaire called her "beautiful dynamite" and wrote, "That Cyd! When you've danced with her you stay danced with." Gene Kelly partnered with her three times. Her legs were (reportedly) insured for $5 million in 1952 ($57.8 million in 2024 dollars)! Everyone in this poll will be iconic, but for raw physical grace, Cyd is up there with the best.

Legs for days, beautiful dancer in the most iconic scenes of Singin in the Rain. She's glorious. As some guys sung to her in It's Always fair weather, 'baby you knock me out!'

Incredibly, Cyd Charisse only started learning to dance as a rehab exercise to strengthen her body after a childhood bout of polio. She was in high demand as a dance partner, Fred Astaire called her beautiful dynamite and said "When you've danced with her, you stayed danced with". She was one of a few leading ladies to dance with both Astaire and Kelly, declaring them both delicious. Kelly apparently was stronger, while Astaire was more coordinated. She also said her husband would always know who she had been dancing with because Kelly left her bruised, while Astaire didn't leave a mark. She's better known for her dance numbers today, but she was a leading lady in her time! Her Scottish accent in Brigadoon leaves a lot to be desired, but compared to the other actors in the movie, it's almost good. She appeared in The Harvey Girls alongside Judy Garland and Angela Lansbury in her first speaking role, but she really burst onto the scene with Singin' in the Rain and her infamous Broadway Melody Ballet number with Gene Kelly (no one could handle a length of fabric like Cyd Charisse). She was brought in because Debbie Reynolds wasn't really a dancer and Kelly was notoriously a stickler about his Vision. After that she starred opposite Astaire in The Band Wagon, which was a bit of a flop but created some enduringly incredible dance numbers. She went on to star in a number of MGM movies, and was one of the last of the Studio era stars to remain on contract. Since we've got up to 1970, I'm including her opening routine in The Silencers (1966) to show just how long she was making a splash - she's into her 40s here and still a siren:

and of course, the iconic Broadway Melody Ballet -

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

Aight let's hear the thoughts on the difference between wicked the film and play lol 🙈 I saw the tags and I'm intrigued

Ok so disclaimer, it has been a long time since I watched the play or any of the bootlegs so I might be forgetting some details, but I did used to watch the bootlegs all the time and saw the play when I was in the US, and Wicked was even my foray into writing fanfiction so it's always had a very special place in my heart.

I will say to start that I really loved the movie and thought it was incredibly fun. I love that they adapted it in a way that embraced the spectacle potential of the stage play, and while there are obviously going to be some things I prefer from the stage play (as a long time fan of it), I still think it was an incredibly well done adaptation.

The one biggest difference though, I felt, was in the portrayal of Elphaba. Initially I couldn't really put my finger on what felt off about it aside from the fact that they had her crying a lot more than I remember. But after discussing the movie with some friends who had never seen the play, one girl said that she felt Elphaba's turn-around into risking it all for the Animals felt too sudden. That was kinda when it struck me — she wasn't as angry as she was in the original.

In the play, Elphaba is incredibly angry by the injustice of being treated like she's an outsider just for the way she looks, and when she sees the Animals being treated the same way, she feels an immediate kinship with them. The Elphaba of the play is angry yet resigned (her 'I'm Not That Girl' is more of a resigned 'this was bound to happen' vs. the sad realisation moment the movie made it out to be). She's sarcastic, she's loud. She first greets Fiyero by shouting at him and whacking him on the head with a book. She is hurt and sad also (of course) but it is buried so deep that it is only Glinda that actually sees it, making the Ozdust dance moment the impactful moment that it is.

I then came across a discussion on Reddit where someone was saying a similar thing — that Elphaba wasn't as angry as she was in the play. But someone else responded with the fact that 'it would have been hard to watch a 3 hour movie of someone being so angry.' Another commenter bemoaned the fact that they mellowed both the main characters down because they didn't want 'two unlikeable female leads.' And that kinda got me thinking about how they likely 'softened' her to make her more 'likeable' and that kinda felt off to me... because that kinda goes against the point? The female rage is a point of the story that struck a chord with me. It is a story that allows it's lead to be angry, JUSTIFIES it. There are angry men who have led countless movies and shows and who are celebrated and fawned over and embraced, but having an angry young woman in a lead role is risky? I never found Elphaba unlikeable and clearly neither did most of the other people who saw the play (would it be the success it was if they did?) but now that it's reaching a wider audience were they afraid making her too 'angry' would make fewer people root for her? I do think classifying Elphaba as an 'angry' character is a disservice to the nuanced nature of the character, but I did feel like the movie highlighted the sad/hurt aspects of her character more than they did the side that is angry at injustice, but still strangely idealistic and resigned, still believing till the very end that there is an easy solution and the Wizard can just 'fix' everything that's wrong. And so while I do love the adaptation, I feel a bit cheated that they gave us a version of Elphaba with some of her more sharpened edges sanded off, so to speak. I also think the reason her 'turn around' felt too abrupt was because we don't get to see her anger. If you don't see how angry she feels at the world, you don't understand how close to the surface this outburst was, just waiting to bubble out of her. You don't get to see why it was so easy to paint her as a 'Wicked Witch' for a moment of passion when she's been treated like crap her whole life and had to hide behind his anger in order to survive. You don't truly understand why she was willing to risk it all for the Animals because you don't understand how this is her moment of finally deciding to let her rage free and USE it to make the stand she's been wanting to make her whole life.

I still feel it was a brilliant adaptation, I just felt like I missed that aspect of it a lot and it made her character feel a little less nuanced to me. But I could be forgetting certain details, or remembering wrong, or just be plain off — happy to listen to opposing viewpoints.

[laurentidal]

Dorm Life

Cynthia was so happy that she loved her roommate as much as she did. She'd been a nervous wreck for the month leading up to move in over fears that they wouldn't get along, but from the moment she'd met Bev, she'd known that this was going to be a match made in heaven. They'd lay in their beds well into the night talking about everything in their lives: their classes, their homes, their interest in boys. It was like having a sister for the first time.

But Bev liked talking about one thing more than anything else: her dreams.

She wanted so much out of life, and she'd mapped out the perfect way to get it. She had her course track, her career, her vacations, and her retirement all planned out already. Cynthia was in awe of her preparedness. There was nothing Bev couldn't achieve with her planner in hand. She'd even developed a side-hustle on campus to make money. When she'd told Cynthia what is was, though, she almost gasped.

Bev had learned hypnotic inductions from her father who was a hypnotherapist. He'd taught her years ago to enter a trance on her own to keep herself grounded and motivated. It hadn't been hard to adapt it to put others under with similar techniques. Monetizing it had been easy. People came to her and told her their secret desires, and Bev helped them come true. She'd been playing hypnotic matchmaker since the start of the semester.

Cynthia reeled at the information, unsure about its morality, but the more Bev explained it to her, the more she came around.

She trusted Bev like a sister.

She even told her once about a boy in her geography class who she'd had her eye on. She'd spend the whole lecture watching him instead of the professor. Three days later, he knocked on the door with a bouquet of flowers and asked her to dinner. Cynthia's mouth hung open as she glanced at her roommate. Bev just smiled and winked and shooed them out the door.

"Take care of her!" she called after.

"I will!" the boy called back to her.

And he did. He'd taken such good care of her that night. Fancy dinner. Paid the bill. And when the night was over, he took her back to his dorm for a movie. And he was a perfect gentleman! He never tried anything inappropriate once. That is, until Cynthia began to act inappropriate herself. The second their lips met, his whole attitude changed. It was like he'd been switched into a different mode. Even so, everything he did was exactly how she liked it. It's like he'd been programmed with all her favorite things in mind. She thought of Bev and realized he probably had.

The next day - late in the afternoon - he walked her back to her dorm and gave her a light kiss goodbye. It had been a perfect date. But when she entered her room, she found Bev sitting on the sofa staring at her phone and looking troubled. Cynthia went over to thank her and ask her what was wrong, but Bev just shook her head slightly and said she had a hard choice she had to make.

They talked for a while longer as Cynthia showered and got dressed up. Bev had a wonderful voice even when she was upset. She loved to listen to it. After a few hours of talking, she seemed to be doing better, even though they hadn't really discussed what was wrong. At least, Cynthia didn't think they had. She couldn't really remember what was said. She'd been too busy getting all prettied up for her date tonight.

Finally the knock came at the door. Cynthia was so excited. She pulled it open and there stood Mr. Bellis, her geography professor. God he was so hot. She'd wanted to jump him since day one. She'd spend all lecture just watching him and fantasizing about what lay under all those clothes. She bit her lip lightly and asked if he was ready.

"Take care of him," Bev said softly to her roommate.

Cynthia stared at him dreamily with nothing else on her mind.

"I will," she answered distantly as he lead her from her room.

She never saw him hand the large envelope to Bev with a nod and a smile.

Thanks for reading! If you are a fan of my work, consider buying me a coffee. Any contribution is insanely appreciated. 💖

[merthosus]

Loved both parts of Meeting Again 💕 You write so beautifully! I saw you wanted more Diego requests, and I was thinking — a Jealous!Diego 🙈 You can pick any scenario or if you want to do a version where reader is the one who has met a connection while they’re apart in Season 2. Up to you! But just thought would be very fun and interesting to see your take on him being jealous. I appreciate you! There’s not enough Diego content out there — you’re single-handedly feeding us all!

Jealousy destroys

Summary: After being split from your family for almost 2 Years, you found someone, he was now a big part of your life. You knew, deep down in your heart, you were imagining someone different in him, but you pushed it away.

Thanks for you request love!! I am a Diego Girly myself so writing for him is making me very happy :) (Btw this picture I can't-)

“Only I get to call you that...but only when we’re alone”

“NO LISTEN TO ME!”, you say in a squeaky high voice. You point your finger at the tube TV in front of you. Although you liked the OLED TV with integrated LED, which projected the displayed color of the movie onto the wall, you adapted. No more flat-screen TVs, no more cell phones and no more ceramic hobs. It had been a big change to travel back to a time when industrialization was still in its infancy.

But Pietro helped you to find your way again, to forget. He was tall, very tall, every girl who looked at him threatened to faint. You met him in a disco. After a little number in the disco toilet, you were hooked. His smell, his eyes and his wonderfully soft hair made you kneel on the floor like a nun. But you still knew that he could never replace Diego. Every night before you fell asleep, you saw him in front of you, following your every thought like a ghost.

2 years were much, but not enough to forget him. "Babe, I need it, please", you beg him. You knew that the puppy eyes always worked at him. He glares at you, trying nit to fall for the little trick you were doing. He was aware of the little manipulation, but as soon as he saw your big eyes he couldn't stop imagining how your eyes would tear of happiness, as soon as he would yes. Apart from that he also couldn't get the picture out his head of those beautiful eyes filled with tears when his cock will enter your mouth after he plugged the new tv in.

"Alrighht", he says, watching your expression change. "I will buy it", he smiles I your direction. You stumble forward and climb onto his big torso. "I love you so much", you say as you hug him as tight as you could. Pietro’s deep chuckle rumbles in his chest as you cling to him, your arms wrapped tightly around his neck. You can feel the warmth of his body through his shirt, the steady beat of his heart against your own. His large hands settle on your waist, holding you securely as you press your cheek against his broad shoulder.

“I know you do,” he murmurs, his voice filled with affection. He leans down slightly, his lips brushing the top of your head. “But you know this is just an excuse to get what you want, right?”. You pull back just enough to look up at him, your big eyes still wide with excitement and maybe a hint of mischief. “Of course it is,” you admit with a grin. Pietro held the door open for you, like the gentleman he was. The bell on the door rang, as you both entered. "Closed", a few voices from the railing above screamed down on you.

You were steadfast, very steadfast, nothing could possibly dissuade you from buying this tv. As you went up the stairs, you excused your rude behavior. "... so please let me buy the...", your voice stopped working, the same as your legs were, as you saw your whole family standing before you. The same as your eyes were wide open, theirs was too. "I said we are closed...", said the one unknowingly man beside Diego. As he tried stepping forward, Diegos arm stopped him. "Y/n?", Diego asks bewildered, he stepped forward himself but as soon as Pietro's big shadow appeared behind me he stopped.

Pietro puts his arm around your shoulders. "Listen man, she wants that tv, so she gets that tv", he arguments with him. Diego tilts his head as he saw him touching you. "Who are you?", he asks. The tension in the room grew thick, almost palpable, as Diego’s sharp gaze focused on Pietro. You could feel Pietro’s grip on your shoulder tighten, his protective instinct kicking in. He wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, especially not when it involved you.

“I’m Pietro,” he replied, his voice calm but firm, meeting Diego’s glare with one of his own. “And I’m her boyfriend. We’re just here to buy a TV, so if you could back off, that would be great.” Diego’s eyes narrowed, his expression hardening. “Boyfriend?” The word seemed to hang in the air, heavy and suffocating. He took a step closer, his posture tense, as if he was ready to confront Pietro right then and there. “You’ve been gone for two years, Y/N, and now you show up with this parasite?” His tone was laced with disbelief and something that almost sounded like hurt.

"Watch your words, amigo", Pietro says. "I...I", you stumbled over your words. Diego's eyes burned with intensity as he glared at Pietro, the jealousy and anger swirling in his chest almost too much to contain. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, knuckles turning white, as he took another step forward, closing the distance between them. “Watch my words?” Diego repeated, his voice low and dangerous. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, especially not when it comes to her.” He pointed at you, his gaze flicking to yours briefly before returning to Pietro with renewed fury.

Pietro’s grip on your shoulder tightened, and you could feel the tension radiating from him, his muscles coiled and ready for a fight. But despite the growing hostility between the two men, you knew you had to intervene before things got out of hand. The air between the three of you was thick with tension, so much so that it felt like you could slice through it with a knife. Diego's dark eyes bore into Pietro, who stood his ground with a calm but defiant expression. You could feel Pietro’s protectiveness radiating off him, his grip on your shoulder firm as if silently promising he wouldn’t let anything happen to you.

But you knew Diego well enough to see the storm brewing beneath his tough exterior. His chest rose and fell with deep, controlled breaths, a clear sign that he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. Pietro, who had been silent, finally spoke up, his tone cool and collected. “She’s moved on, man. You need to respect that. She’s with me now.”

Diego’s eyes narrowed at Pietro’s words, his jaw clenching so hard you were sure he’d break a tooth. “Respect? You’re talking to me about respect?” He let out a bitter laugh, one devoid of any real amusement. “I don’t think you understand, amigo. Respect is earned, and you haven’t earned a damn thing.” Pietro smirked, clearly unfazed by Diego’s hostility. “I think you’re just mad because you couldn’t give her what she needed. She needed someone strong enough to help her move on, and that wasn’t you”, you could hear out his words, that he assumed that he was your ex.

Diego’s face contorted with rage at Pietro’s words, and before you could even react, he lunged forward, fist flying towards Pietro. The sound of the punch landing echoed through the room, and you gasped as Pietro stumbled back, his hand immediately going to his jaw. “Diego, stop!” you cried out, stepping between the two men before the situation could escalate further. Your hands pressed against Diego’s chest, trying to create some distance between him and Pietro. Diego’s eyes, dark with anger, met yours, and you could see the conflict warring within him wanting to hurt the man who had taken his place, but not wanting to hurt you.

Pietro straightened up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He let out a low chuckle, shaking his head as he looked at Diego with a mix of pity and disdain. “See, this is why she left. You’re too wrapped up in your own anger to see what she really needs.” “Pietro, don’t,” you warned, your voice firm. The last thing you wanted was for him to provoke Diego further.

But Pietro wasn’t backing down. “She needs someone who can be there for her, not someone who’s stuck in the past.” Diego’s fists clenched again, and you could feel the tension radiating off him like a live wire. “You don’t know a damn thing about what she needs,” he spat, his voice laced with venom. “Stop it, both of you!” you shouted, your voice cracking under the strain of the situation. “This isn’t helping anyone!”, you said angrily. Diego looks down on you, your hands still lingering in his chest. "I missed you so fucking much", he whispers as he lays one hand on your cheek.

"I thought I would never see you again", he mumbles as he looked you deep into your eyes. The intensity in Diego's voice caught you off guard, making your breath hitch in your throat. His touch was gentle, almost hesitant, as his thumb brushed lightly across your cheek. You could see the raw emotion in his eyes, a mixture of longing, pain, and something deeper that you couldn't quite name. It was as if the two years of distance and silence had all melted away in this moment, leaving only the unspoken feelings between you.

“I missed you too,” you whispered back, your voice trembling. The truth was, despite everything, you had missed him more than you wanted to admit. No matter how much you tried to move on, there was always a part of you that longed for the connection you once shared. "Bitch", you heard Pietro mumble almost silent behind you. But you heard it, meaning Diego did too. His loving expression faded and his head swung up in his direction again.

With a light twist in his shoulder, you heard a knife fly in Pietro's direction. You didn't needed to turn around to register what just happened. Seeing Five groan with annoyance behind Diegos shoulder, Allison slapping her hand on her forehead and Luther looking shocked, you knew exactly what he did.

“You know,” Diego said softly, his voice low and rough with emotion, “only I get to call you that.” A small, almost teasing smile tugged at his lips as he added, “But only when we’re alone.” Before you could respond, Diego’s lips met yours in a kiss that was fierce and possessive, yet filled with a deep, undeniable affection. It was a kiss that spoke of everything you both had been through, the years of longing, the pain of separation, and the fire that still burned between you.

When he finally pulled back, you were breathless, your heart pounding in your chest. Diego’s dark eyes bore into yours, his expression a mixture of love and determination. “No one disrespects you. Ever,” he murmured, his voice firm. “Not while I’m around.”

Hope you liked the little story :)

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

Eddie Redmayne says Day of the Jackal scripts 'discombobulated' him: 'It threw me off course'

Redmayne and his costar and co-executive producer Lashana Lynch preview Peacock's upcoming thriller adaptation.

By Ashley Boucher September 23, 2024.

Eddie Redmayne had an immediate connection to his latest project — even if it "discombobulated" him at times

The Oscar winner plays the titular assassin in Peacock's upcoming thriller Day of the Jackal, based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name. The mysterious killer for hire was first brought to life on screen in a 1973 movie adaptation starring Edward Fox as the Jackal, who is hired to take out French President Charles de Gaulle while a police detective unravels his true identity.

"It was one of those movies that my family would watch again and again and again,” Redmayne, who also serves as an executive producer, tells Entertainment Weekly. “And so I thought, wow, this is bold, that they're going to try and reimagine this. And what I read, I just found completely thrilling and compelling, and at each moment it threw me off course and it kind of discombobulated me, but I couldn't stop turning the pages... I hadn't done television for a few years, but the idea of getting to spend a proper amount of time with this enigma felt like great material to mine.” 

The scripts that made Redmayne's head swirl update the plot for modern times — and provide more insight into who the Jackal really is, making the 10-episode series "a completely different piece" that has "been reconceived and contemporized with a new target."

The series begins with the Jackal pulling off a high-profile kill from a distance that should have been impossible. The remarkable shot draws the attention of a client whose offer, risky as it may be, could mean retirement for the hit man. But, unfortunately for the Jackal, it also draws the attention of British Intelligence, turning the hunter into the hunted. 

“One of the things that appealed to me about doing this series was, in Edward Fox's version — it's two hours, that movie — Edward is so filled with charisma… and kind of wit and elegance, but you never get to learn anything about it,” Redmayne says. “I wanted to see if through this 10-hour thing, we could get to know someone, but always be second guessing.”

Entertainment Weekly

Eddie Redmayne says Day of the Jackal scripts 'discombobulated' him: 'It threw me off course'

Redmayne and his costar and co-executive producer Lashana Lynch preview Peacock's upcoming thriller adaptation.

Eddie Redmayne had an immediate connection to his latest project — even if it "discombobulated" him at times.

The Oscar winner plays the titular assassin in Peacock's upcoming thriller Day of the Jackal, based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name. The mysterious killer for hire was first brought to life on screen in a 1973 movie adaptation starring Edward Fox as the Jackal, who is hired to take out French President Charles de Gaulle while a police detective unravels his true identity.

“It was one of those movies that my family would watch again and again and again,” Redmayne, who also serves as an executive producer, tells Entertainment Weekly. “And so I thought, wow, this is bold, that they're going to try and reimagine this. And what I read, I just found completely thrilling and compelling, and at each moment it threw me off course and it kind of discombobulated me, but I couldn't stop turning the pages... I hadn't done television for a few years, but the idea of getting to spend a proper amount of time with this enigma felt like great material to mine.” 

Eddie Redmayne is a master of disguise in The Day of the Jackal first-look teaser trailer

The scripts that made Redmayne's head swirl update the plot for modern times — and provide more insight into who the Jackal really is, making the 10-episode series "a completely different piece" that has "been reconceived and contemporized with a new target."

The series begins with the Jackal pulling off a high-profile kill from a distance that should have been impossible. The remarkable shot draws the attention of a client whose offer, risky as it may be, could mean retirement for the hit man. But, unfortunately for the Jackal, it also draws the attention of British Intelligence, turning the hunter into the hunted. 

“One of the things that appealed to me about doing this series was, in Edward Fox's version — it's two hours, that movie — Edward is so filled with charisma… and kind of wit and elegance, but you never get to learn anything about it,” Redmayne says. “I wanted to see if through this 10-hour thing, we could get to know someone, but always be second guessing.”

Indeed, the Jackal keeps not only the audience, but those around him constantly on their toes — particularly MI6 arms specialist Bianca Pullman, played by No Time to Die star Lashana Lynch. Bianca becomes obsessed with finding out the Jackal’s identity, to the detriment of her career and family. “She is so determined to be this strange version of human superhero — and I say strange version because it's all the twisted elements of things that you would hope that a human wouldn't do when doing good for the world,” Lynch, a co-executive producer, tells EW, adding that, “The way that she goes about her work means that there has to be a fall off and a sacrifice somewhere. And unfortunately for her, that sacrifice and the racking of the brain is worth it.” 

What both Bianca and the Jackal put themselves through — and the destruction they leave — as they traverse Europe to carry out their missions will surely have viewers questioning their judgment. “People working for good and people working for bad can have such similarities,” Lynch says. “At the end of the day, they both just have jobs to do.”

Those jobs just might cost them everything.

The Day of the Jackal premieres Nov. 7 on Peacock.

Source ew.com

[aroacephotographer]

Star Trek Nerding Out Time

I've been watching a lot of Star Trek recently. And it's been a full force ADHD mega marathon of my favorite franchise right now. A lot of this for the first full time.

I grew up with TNG as a kid, seeing random episodes here and there. But I never followed the storyline.

Lower Decks is one of the best shows right now. And I LOVE the fifth/final season going on. If I had any complaints, it would be that they should have 7 seasons like the 90s shows. But I digress.

I have to nerd out about this connection I just made.

Seeing Lower Decks earlier this year introduced me to Kayshon, a Tamarian who joins the Cerritos in season 2. But it's not the first time a Tamarian has been in the franchise. Kayshon is a continuation of the first episode the Tamarians were in.

Star Trek: TNG S5:E2 "Darmok" shows Picard trying to find a way to speak to the Tamarian race. This is something that's been tried before, but the other two or three captains failed. Picard found a way to communicate with them; which btw is a very poetic episode. The Tamarians joined Starfleet after that.

The star dates for this episode are 45047.2-45048.8. Because I wanted to know the dates.

Paul Winfield

So here's the behind the scenes thing that makes me so interested in this episode: The actor who played Captain Dathon was Paul Winfield.

Winfield is one of those actors that's been in quite a few movies and some childhood TV shows that I enjoyed. HERE'S his IMDB page so you can peruse it for yourself.

But some notable cartoon shows he's been a part of are: Batman The Animated Series, Gargoyles, Spider-Man The Animated Series, and Batman Beyond.

He also starred in The Wrath of Khan!

Huckleberry Finn was a huge deal to read when I was a kid. And I'm pretty sure I was shown the film adaptation from 1974. I'm from the South, so my parents wanted me to read or at least watch it. But I vaguely remember seeing Winfield's rendition of Jim from that movie. I bring this up because (and I cannot prove this speculation) I believe this was one of those roles that made people pay more attention to him as an actor.

Thinking back on this was wild. Anyway, back to in-universe stuff...

Kayshon, His Eyes Open

By the time of Lower Decks comes around, we see Kayshon join Starfleet.

If you haven't seen the TNG episode before the LD episode like I did, the whole concept feels random. But (and spoilers I guess) Tamarians speak in metaphor. Which causes quite a bit of understandable confusion.

When I first saw Kayshon in LD what he said seemed really random. But Commander Jack Ransom points out in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment that the Tamarians speak in metaphor. Over the course of several episodes (I'd have to track down the precise episode again) the Commander starts speaking in metaphor around Kayshon. To which he responds happily.

The attention to detail between TNG and LD is phenomenal. I want to rewatch LD in general, but now I have yet another reference to look out for.

Seeing the TNG episode had me make the connection after seeing the Tamarians for the first time. And it felt like a Canon Event.

[c-schroed]

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) Or Why The Probably Most Accurate Movie Adaptation Of Dracula Still Is Not Accurate Enough

I mentioned some time ago - while salivating over the marvellous razor scene of Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula adaptation - that there is quite some stuff to unpack here. And now I found some time to unpack. So let's begin. I'll start with the good stuff, firstly the good stuff that's not in the book (i.e., the Flourishes), than the good stuff that's true to the book (the Well-Conserved). Thirdly, I'll make note of things that were, unnervingly, changed (by which I mean They Came Back Wrong), and then I'll deal with what is unfortunately left out from the book (the Missing). And finally, finally I'll rant over that two bad things that never were in the book in the first place (a section I'll call JUST WHY?).

So. A tragedy in five acts. Here we go.

Act I - The Flourishes

The razor scene. I think I dealt with this enough by now. It's perfection and I'll die on that hill.

The music. Obviously, Bram Stoker's gothic lil masterpiece is lacking some gorgeous score. But mourn no longer, because Wojciech Kilar cooked up some dashing, pushing tune for us, fitting perfectly to this dark tale of spreading darkness and deepening madness.

Some basic knowledge about blood groups. Yeah, Stoker can't be blamed for this, but still. It's a nice addition to remind us that we do indeed live in a world where blood groups exist.

The Westenra Estate. As much as I pity that the lovely town of Whitby did not make it into the movie, I do love Lucy Westenra's house. Because I'm a sucker for hedge mazes. Simple as that.

Those glasses. Those. Fucking. Nice. Glasses.

Act II - The Well-Conserved

The plot in general. Yes, there are a lot of maddening differences, as we will see soon. But still, this movie at least makes the impression that most of the people working on it had indeed read the darn novel. Which is something that I can't say about many other Dracula adaptations I have seen.

The costumes, the sets, the atmosphere. Well done, everyone!

The Actors. The good thing about being not native in a language is that one is not very prone to dialects that seem off. And as I happen to not be a native speaker of English, I have little problems with Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder adding some US touch to what should be very, very, v e r y British characters. I even find Reeves perfectly fitting for the oh so darn young Jonathan Harker. And the rest of the cast is marvellous, too (with the exception of Winona Ryder, see below for details). Especially Tom Waits, who is hard-wired to the name of Renfield in my brain ever since I first saw this movie. And Gary Oldman as Dracula… Well. I think I already made clear what opinion I have about that sexy bastard.

Some lucky few of lovely quotes made it over to the film. Dracula's welcome. The Fowl Bauble of Human Vanity, of course. And Qunincey almost making me faint when saying "Little girl" when I least expected it.

Act III - They Came Back Wrong

The dates. Goshdarnit, the dates! It's an epistolary novel, so why make the effort of making up completely new dates for events that already had a precise date in the novel? I just don't get it. And it unnerves me. Every. Fucking. Time.

Time in general. Watching the movie after Dracula Daily makes it feel so very, very hasty. Jonathan travels to Castle Dracula like it's no thing at all. And the first few days in Castle Dracula are condensed into one weird evening.

Dracula meeting Mina before Jonathan is back. I really, really loved the book for avoiding the most terrible tropes. And then comes this movie, and struts right into this terrible pitfall.

Mina. I'm sorry, usually I love the work of Winona Ryder, but here she was way too bland. Maybe it was because her character had quite a revamp (ha. ha.) and no one cared to tell her what new approach she should take. But whatever reason, the clever, adorable train fiend of the original did not deserve this!

Act IV - The Missing

The Voyage of the Demeter is way too short. Where is "But I am captain, and I must not leave my ship"? Where is the poor sea captain tying himself to the wheel? And where is his funeral? Oh, I really missed all that. And, I mean, I don't mind hearing Anthony Hopkins read the lines, but would it have been such an expense to at least hire an additional actor to voice the correspondent or the sea captain?

Jonathan Holding Mina By the Arm. That's really not an objectively big issue. That's just me who fell in love with JonMina after reading this chapter. And almost no one does it properly. They deserve justice!

(Thanks a ton to @smieska for capturing my mood just perfectly!)

Act V - JUST WHY?

Elisabeta. Don't get me wrong here: All of the oh so tragic Drac backstory they invented for this movie is terribly unnecessary. But in this sea of uselessness, the tragically deceased wife of Vlad Țepeș that just so happens to perfectly resemble Mina Murray is an audience-insulting island of unoriginality. I mean, yeah, I guess someone wanted to add some romance to the story of Vlad the Fucking Impaler. Because, well, nineties or so. But Mina, of all women? Why not invent some new character that can be bothered with such stuff? Why ruin an all-nice JonMina ship? I don't get the whole new backstory, and I especially don't get this aspect.

Dracula raping Lucy in his shitty werewolf form. Everything about this is wrong. And it has no relevance for the plot. Just. Blergh.

Epilogue

It's cruel to watch Francis Ford Coppola's take on Dracula right after finishing @re-dracula. I know that now. Everything is still too fresh. It's a good movie, after all, but especially because it's quite good it is frustrating to be so terribly aware of all its shortcomings. In a few weeks or so, I would recommend it, again, I guess. As long as it's still Dracula Off-Season. 7 out of 10 points.

[glux2]

Musing: Emotional connection

Recently a very close person to me suggested i binge watch "Angel Hare", before that day my only exposure to that project was a fan game that had a very funny punchline in lampooning the "cursed videogame" genre.

So i watched the whole thing and it was great.

This scene right here made me feel more feelings than most of the media i have watched/played/read in like the last 5 years or so.

So it made my mind wonder, like, "hold on, when was the last time i felt this strongly about a piece of entertainment?"

Sure, if you know me, i felt strongly about the ongoing plotline for Noelle on Deltarune, so one would think "2021 when chapter two came out", right? but no, i got very invested but it wasn't it.

The last time i felt so strongly about a piece of media was actually Deltarune's predecesor, Undertale in 2015.

I finished Undertale in tears, i got in a very bad funk when i found out about the genocide ending, it truly made me feel emotions.

So i began to ponder, just what really moves me?

Full disclosure: I don't cry at movies. This is not a "look at me i am a badass who is not beheld by feelings" statement, no, i kinda just dont connect emotionally with movies as easily as other people.

I have talked about this, many times actually, Toy Story 3 did not make me cry, it always bothers me how people at the time were like "if TS3 didn't make you cry, you have no soul" and shit like that, so let me repeat something i have said many times before:

Toy Story 3 was a movie i went to see the day doctors had informed me my mother had entered terminal phase of cancer.

My friends took me to see TS3 when i felt the greatest sadness i have ever felt in my entire life. And im glad TS3 was a pretty funny movie that managed to distract me from what i was going through. TS3 uplifted me when i had a very real reason to cry.

So what im getting at is, i rarely connect emotionally with what conventionally makes people emotionally connected, not that i havent felt strong emotions from movies, but as we'll get to later, it's just not the stuff you would expect, when we get back to movies you'll be thinking, "what the fuck, Toy story 3 did not make you emotional but THIS THING DID?!"

So, if traditional "emotional things" rarely have moved me i began to think to myself, "what are things that have made me feel this strongly?"

I realized it's the damn weirdest things.

I'll try to list things that i can remember making me feel this emotional.

Now i'll be upfront, im not a very cultured person, so you'll notice most of this is...not very high brow.

Also, obviously spoilers for all this stuff im about to talk about.

Before we begin: Honorable mention goes to me finding out i had repressed memories of being traumatized as a kid by being show an animated adaptation of "Pilgrim's progress" by an aunt, which disturbed me greatly towards the end as the main character dies and before it the souls of two people he met are condemned to eternal damnation from making MISTAKES, not sins, not evil, but THE FUCKING MISTAKE of exploring alternate routes before them.

-Yoshi's Island, 1994 When i was a wee one Yoshi was one of my fave videogame characters, so of course i was beyond hype when a game where you play as yoshi came out, the ending is one of the greatest moments in videogame history, the beautiful music, the journey of the stork, and finally the classic Mario fan fare playing as baby mario and baby luigi being held by their parents with the words "Heroes are born", it's such a powerful moment. To this day i still cannot listen to that credits music without tearing up.

Sequel? Retcon?! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, SHUT UP, THIS IS THE PERFECT ENDING AND NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED AFTER IT!

-The bicentennial man, 1999 The bicentennial man is one of the biggest examples of a movie being fucking mischaracterized in the marketing, this movie is based on Isaac Asimov's short story and later novel, it stars Robin Williams, so all marketing was presenting the movie as Robin Williams comedy movie, IT. IS. NOT. The bicentennial man is a scifi drama about the existential search for meaning and the nature of what truly is to be alive. You get invested on the quest of this robot trying to find humanity for 200 years, and the punchline to this movie is, in his quest for humanity he forgoes the immortality being a machine provides him as he had developed the way to turn himself biological, still artificial but biological, and he dies peacefully on his sleep before he can be told that humanity had declared him, legally, a human being. To me it was such a powerful moment, he found true meaning to his life, became human, yet died before knowing so.

-Courage the cowardly dog, "The Mask", 2002 This is a legendary episode of an already great show that has a lot of very good emotional moments, some may cite episodes like "the giving tree" or "the last star maker", but for me it's this one. For those who have never experienced this episode, it revolves around a cat girl named Kitty who one day shows up at Courage's farm and she's wearing an upsetting mask, she abuses courage because she believes all dogs are bad. The mask serves 2 purposes, one is metaphorical, "her inability to face reality", the second is to hide her identity as she believes she is in danger. The thing is, she is on the run because her lover best friend Bunny is trapped in an abusive relationship with a gangster dog who threatened to kill her if she was seen near Bunny ever again, the episode coats the whole situation with a ton of goofiness, but it's actually very fucking dark: A young lesbian is trapped against her will on an abusive relationship with a toxic, violent man who threatened to kill her girlfriend if she refused to date him. Courage, being a good little dog ventures to save Bunny and have her reunite with Kitty because, despite how bad Kitty was to him, he recognizes that Kitty is a victim and she and Bunny deserve better, leading to Courage letting them escape away together, to live happy and free. I don't think it's just me, but the final image of Kitty and Bunny hugging as the train takes them to freedom felt so powerful to me.

-Twisted Metal Head-on, 2002 This is one of the weirdest things i have ever gotten emotionally invested, but honestly? i love when some shitposting franchise suddenly manages to pull this off, specially given the set up for this whole thing im going to describe starts in an early game as a fucking joke. So to contextualize this, the first two Twisted metal games were helmed by the og creators of the franchise, TM 3, 4 and small brawl were made by different developers when the creators lost the rights, but during the PS2 era when the og developers came back and created TM: Black, and TM: Head-on, Black was a reboot, Head-on was a retcon sequel to TM 2 that eliminated TM3 from the timeline, but not TM 4. Still with me? Okay so TM2 had this character, Krista Sparks, who was the revealed to be the daughter of the main antagonist of the game, Calypso, but hold on? wasn't Calypso's backstory that his family died in a tragic accident which lead him to become evil? So turns out, the FBI retrieved his daughter's corpse, turned it into a robot with a bomb with the intend to make her get close to Calypso and blow him up. The ending ends comically with a message reading "The FBI wishes to thank you for putting an end to Twisted metal". Stil Still with me?!?!?! ok! so Head on! In this game Krista is back, as a ghost, her ending consists on her confronting her dad, who has now brought up so much pain, misery and death to the world, Calypso tries to explain that the nature of his powers mean he has to do this otherwise he cannot use his powers, and his plan was for Krista to win so he could bring her back and her mom to life, but Krista is so horrified with what has happened that she refuses and blurts "I wish the accident that killed me and mom never happened" the intention being impeding Calypso from becoming this evil super natural villian, but as per all endings, it's always a monkey paw affair and Calypso knows it, looking saddened he grants the wish because he has no option, his powers force him to. Briefly Krista has a vision of her childhood with her dad before he became evil as they share a sweet moment playing on a swing set. HARD CUT TO A HOSPITAL, Krista is on a bed in coma, Calypso is there and whispers to her something along the lines of "Sleep tight my dear, may you finally find peace", as Calypso is leaving the hospital you can hear 2 doctors talking, mentioning that Krista had been in coma for more than a decade and apparently Calypso just had found out. Excuse me Twisted Metal, but WHAT THE FUCK? You are a dumb fucking edgy car combat game, how dare you make me feel these things?

-Mother 3, 2006 (translation on 2008) Mother 3 hopefully needs no introduction, or maybe it does, because many people have reduced it to a joke due to how nintendo stubbornly refuses to give us an official release, but also many of you must know this franchise is the spark that ignited the flame of the absolute Juggernaut Undertale would become, as well as many other games influenced by it. The Mother/Earthbound games were known for being quirky and deviating from the standard conventions of the game, notably for the modern day setting and unorthodox choices of how you deal with the villians, they were always billed as emotional, but i feel they did not live up to that...until 3. The general narrative to Mother 3 is about how greed is destroying the world, the main villian corrupting what we see of the world (a paradise little town where everybody is nice) by introducing luxury, money and status....and also stomping everything with his fascist army and cyborg mutants. Mother 3 is a game about how the worst traits of humanity are destroying the world and upsetting nature. Mother 3 is also the story of 2 twin brothers who suffer tragedy after tragedy after tragedy that ultimately pits them one against the other with the fate of the world at stake. Mother 3 punches you almost immediately by killing the mother character (which i might mention you're encouraged to name after your own mother) at the end of the first chapter and how this affects her surviving family. one of the Twins, Claus, is so disturbed that he decides to on on his own to try to kill the monster that took his mom, while the other, Lucas, was too afraid and weak to stop his brother, resulting on Claus dying as well...but the badguys take his corpse and reanimate it into a cold, emotionless cyborg who follow's the big bad's order and is using him to try to cause the end of the world. In the climax of the story Lucas is force to confront Claus, clause is a brain washed cyborg, his master is out of the picture and all he can do is fight, you can't reason with him...and then.... Lucas and Claus begin to hear a voice, a familiar voice, it's their mother, reaching for them from beyond the grave, pleading for them to stop fighting, suddenly Lucas and Claus both have a flash back to when they were babies, overhearing their parents talk about the hopes they have for them, the many things they will be able to achieve together, this makes Clause snap out of his brain washing, removing the helmet that had been hiding his face since he was resurrected, Lucas and him have a moment as they are finally reunited, Claus realizes all the bad things he has done while under control of the bad guy and realizes he must atone for his crimes, he prepares a lightning attack he knows cannot hurt Lucas and cause HIM to die. "Im sorry for all the problems i caused" he says as he is dying on his dad's arm, "I must go to where mom is now", as he passes away he can hear his mother calling for him, "You just be so tired" she says. Now i know it will sound insane for people to hear a videogame of all things can make one so emotional, but damn, just recollecting these scenes for this dumb post has made me start to cry, the emotional punch of this scene is very strong, it demolished me when i played the game back in the day, but now? After my own mother passed away? I have been scared of playing this game again. I mot sure if im emotionally prepare to go though that again, even 10+ years later. That's how powerful this scene was to me.

-Elite Beat Agents, 2007 If you have played this game, you know were im going, for those who dont, EBA is a silly rhythm game about secret agent cheer leaders that are dispatched around the world to help people in need by raising their spirit and allow them to overcome adversity, the game is insanely wacky and have scenarios like helping a ninja car salesman prevent a company from stealing his company's secrets, helping a washed up baseball star fight a lava spitting golem rampaging on an amusement park and traveling back in time to help davinci paint the mona lisa. EBA is also the second game in the Ouendan series, and there is something you need to know about this series: They all include tearjerker levels to contrast with all the goofiness. "A christmas Wish" is a christmas themed level set to Chicago's "You are the inspiration" and the story to this level is positively DEVASTATING: A few months before christmas a business man tells his daughter and wife he has to go on a business trip but he promises he'll be back just in time for christmas, the girl asks him to bring back a "girlfriend" for her teddy bear. The father dies on a plane crash. When the mother breaks the news to the little girl she gets angry, crying to the skies that her dad promised he would be back for christmas. The backdrop of the stage is set the girl and the mom doing things to remember the dad, like looking through a photo album and baking a cake for his birthday, it's very sweet, but...this is EBA, if you're doing poorly you see the "bad" versions of these scenes, and in this one, one is very devastating, the little girl is having a dream where she's chasing the spirit of her dad, if you're doing well she calls for him and for a brief moment the dad stops and starts turning towards her, if you're doing bad the spirit fades away and the girl wakes up in tears. Dear goodness. But of course, if you beat the level you get this sequence of the ghost of the dad showing up on chrismas morning to fullfil his promise, giving the little girl the teddy bear he promised and having the chance to say good bye to his family.

This punches you really fucking hard in the gut. I am incapable of doing this level without ending in tears. For a time i could not even listen to this song without tearing up until, i shit you now, the deadpool movie used it on a comedy scene.

-Punch out!!, 2009 This one is one i know got me because of personal nostalgia, when i was a wee one the og NES punch out was a big part of my childhood, Punch Out!! on the wii was a masterfully crafted tribute to the franchise. To not dwell too much time on this, this game has an interesting quirk, the ending is a downer ending and it's the only ending you can get. After you beat the last opponent there is a sequence where Mac and Doc seemingly are having a disagreement, where Mac seemingly has decided that if he loses 3 times, he'll retire from boxing completely. After this you face randomly opponents from the game, the first time you lose in this mode you lose your champion title, after three loses, it's game over and the story mode becomes locked for that save file. The final cutscene is Doc walking through what seems to be a gallery with boxing memorabilia, and untold number of years later, he is alone, he spots his old bike on this gallery and rings the bell, he looks up and speak to an absent Mac, "Good job son, good job", as he leaves the camera pans to reveal he was looking at a framed photo of him and Mac on one of their training sessions. The music on this sequence is so perfect, and it was aimed at people like me, people who grew up with the franchise, the idea was making it feel like Doc was reminiscing of YOUR time with punch out when you were a kid, and to make you think about how far YOU have come since the first time you played the games in an arcade, or your nes, or snes. It's actually pretty effective and it got me.

-Regular Show, "Trucker Hall of Fame", 2012 What makes this one different from others instances of me making me emotional, it's, much like the "Angel Hare" example at the top, this one is all about WARM HAPPY FEELINGS, so for those who did not watch this episode, let me summarize it for you: One day Muscleman gets word that his dad, who was his personal hero, has passed away, and he's tasked with carrying his final wish, spread his [hat's] ashes in a place called "Trucker hall of fame", you see, Muscleman was lead to believe his dad was a legendary trucker and that earned him his admiration, but during the episode Muscleman finds out he was lied to, his dad was a forklift driver that the truckers belittled, altho feeling cheated for having been lied to he carries on with his father's wishes. Now because this is regular show, when they arrive at the trucker's hall of fame they are immediately attacked by ghost trucker for "desecrating the hall of fame" as they spread the ashes something happens: The ghost of Muscleman's dad manifests himself and saves his son, taking the chance to apologize to his son and having the chance to say his final good bye personally. Despite the inherent silliness of the show's premise, i think this episode really did a good job on expressing that sense of catharsis of making peace with the passing of a love one.

-The Final Girls, 2015 A friend suggested we watched this movie, and much like Twisted metal up there, i absolutely did not expect for this incredibly stupid comedy horror movie to hit me with any sort of emotional connection, and yet... The Final Girls opens with the main character in a car with her mom, who is an struggling C-tier actress whose biggest achievement ever was appearing on a Friday the 13th knock off movie, during this sequence they get in an accident where the mom dies and even after it's been some time since the accident the main character has not properly moved on from the passing of her mom. Her friends and some people at the college she attends are preparing this horror movie festival where the main event is they are going to play the movies from the franchise her mom was on, and they suggest she should come. Then some bullshit happens and they all end up somehow trapped in the world of the movie. A quick rundown of the rules of horror movies is explained to them, the monster cannot be defeated by fighting it, it's only the final girl who can defeat the killer, and unfortunately for them they accidentally killed the character that, in the canon of the movie, is the final girl, so they believe one of them has to become the final girl and end the movie to hopefully get out of it. The problem is, the main character is experimenting shock from interacting with her mom's character, she is not taking well to seeing her mom on the flesh and she dedicates the entire movie to "save her mom", in the climax of the movie the mom character begins to understand that she is a fictional character and the nature of her attachment to the main character, understanding that they cannot be both the final girl and if then main character wants to make it back to the real world she has to learn "To let go", choosing to sacrifice herself so there is only one final girl. It's kinda weird, that of all possible premises, this managed to make a "You need to move on" message that somehow managed to resonate with me, you might have figured out by now a running theme here, but, i was really hard for me to deal with my mother's passing even if it's been years since it happened, so it's kinda funny for me to think these are the places i have found comfort from.

-Undertale, 2015 Okay this is tumblr, i already talked about Undertale on the prologue to, whatever the fuck im doing here, you know what undertale is, you know how effective it is, Undertale is really well designed for you to grow emotionally attached to these characters, so being able to see all these characters you know have grown attached to have their happy ending on the pacifist ending does fill one with a very satisfactory warm happy feeling that can move you to tears. ...Or you can be bummed out by being a little greedy gaming bitch and taking a look at the bad ending. Because you just couldn't help yourself, could you?

-Onward, 2020 This movie did not hit me as hard as the most emotional entries on this, but it still got me, because in the end of the day the main motivation of the characters on this movie is experiencing closure, catharsis over the death of their father, for Ian it's the fact that he died before he was born so he never met him and is driven by this desire to finally see the father who he shares such a connection with on the stories everybody who knew him in life have told him, and then there is Barley, the elder brother, who did know his dad in life, but is tortured by how, as a kid, he did not properly say good bye to him because he was terrified of death and avoided being there for him in his final days. The ending for this movie is very powerful, Ian choosing to sacrifice being able to meet his dad in the flesh, even for a few minutes, in order to give Barley the chance to being able to properly make peace with his dad and properly say good bye to him. Ian doesn't even get to SEE this, he does not get to see his dad even tho it was what he wanted most of all, but he understood bringing closure to Barley was more important than his selfish desire to see his dad, someone he never knew in life.

So what have i learned from whatever the hell this trainwreck of a post is...i guess that what really gets to me, what really moves me, is when a character, maybe not even someone i can realistically relate to, gets to experience closure, catharsis and be in peace with the people who are missing on their life. The majority of these things in here, even the Angel Hare example, relate to a character being able to experience catharsis by being able to properly make pace or otherwise contact someone they lost, or their ability to move on from this world, so to speak, knowing that their affairs and in order and that their loved ones will be okay.

Things can always look dark, the world may be trying to keep you down, maybe losing someone has been specially hard for you, but it's not the end of the world, you are loved and things can get better, it always hurts and we'll never stop missing what we have lost, but the memories of happier times are there to remind us, we can be happy again, and we can move on, use those memories as your motivation, you can lead yourself to a future filled with light.

[hwarintide]

November Viewing Log

Yeah, I know it’s the end of the year, but I went ahead and started this side blog, complete with a section for my monthly watchlist anyway. I wanted a space where I could jot down quick thoughts on what I’m currently watching (and loving).

Currently Watching

The Tale of Lady Ok (🇰🇷) – After finishing the incredible Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born, I had this huge urge to watch another sageuk. I was so happy to find something new that’s so well-made. Even after just two episodes, the plot had me hooked — stories about the struggles of the lower class in historical settings always grab my attention, and this one doesn’t hold back. By the end of episode two, I found myself thinking about how the main character, ironically, might’ve been “freer” when she was enslaved. Once her status changed to something noble, she became bound by duties to others.

When the Phone Rings (🇰🇷) – Everyone’s obsessed with this show, and yep, count me in. It’s such a breath of fresh air at the end of a not-so-great k-drama year — a story about adults (with not-so-adult decisions haha), wrapped in a darker, sensual tone. The characters are flawed, complicated, and just so interesting to watch.

Fangs of Fortune (🇨🇳) – Total newbie to c-dramas here. I’ve only seen a couple of modern ones, and this is my first wuxia. But wow, I’m obsessed already. The plot is promising, the action scenes are amazing, and the sets and costumes? Chef’s kiss. Even though I’m usually neutral about fantasy, this show is winning me over.

Revenge of Others (🇰🇷) – Honestly, I started watching this solely because Shin Ye Eun is in the lead role. Normally, I avoid school dramas, but the thriller angle pulled me in. Plus, Shin Ye Eun is just (always) wonderful, so I’m sticking with it.

Watched

Juvenile Justice (🇰🇷) – I started this one back in 2023 but put it on hold for a while. The overall vibe was good, but I needed the right mood for such heavy themes like juvenile crime and cruelty. I came back to it this year and finished it — and I don’t regret it. It’s such a well-made show that dives deep into the law and intertwines the cases with the lead’s own tragic backstory. The acting was memorable, and I’d love to see a second season.

Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born (🇰🇷) – Probably my favorite drama of the year. I cried so much — literally had tissues ready for every episode. It had everything I love: a historical context about women’s theater (a topic I didn’t know much about before), my favorite Kim Tae Ri in the lead, the equally amazing Shin Ye Eun and Ra Mi Ran, an almost entirely female cast, and a story that’s deeply emotional. The theater performances were so captivating I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. Honestly, I’m shocked it didn’t get more love from international fans, though it was well-received in Korea.

Love in the Big City (🇰🇷) – The book this is based on was one of the first I read in Korean. I remember it as a beautifully written, honest, and realistic story, so of course, I had to watch the adaptation. And it didn’t disappoint.

The Trunk (🇰🇷) – Honestly, I found this pretty boring. It felt like the creators were trying to hint at some deeper meaning behind a simple story, but it didn’t land. It could’ve been a decent movie, but as a series, it felt empty and dragged out. That said, the house design was memorable, and the OST was nice.

Mr. Plankton (🇰🇷) – At one point while watching it, I was borderline obsessed, but looking back with a cooler head, I think it was just Woo Do Hwan and Oh Jung Se pulling me in. I love their acting styles and delivery. The plot, though? All over the place. In theory, it could’ve been a cool modern take on some classic Korean folktale about a morally gray lower-class antihero kidnapping a poor girl from a noble family. But it feels like Netflix tried to cram every melodramatic trope into one series to appeal to everyone — and, honestly, “for everyone” often ends up being “for no one.” Still, I don’t regret watching it.

What Comes after Love (🇰🇷🇯🇵) – I’m also studying Japanese, so I was intrigued by the setting involving both Japan and Korea, with characters speaking both languages. It’s a classic love story about unspoken feelings and how emotions change over time. The ending felt quite logical.

Beyond Goodbye (🇯🇵) – I watched this right after What Comes after Love because of Sakaguchi Kentaro. It might be your typical Japanese drama about reincarnation and fated connections, but it was beautifully shot and well-acted, so I’m happy with it.

Queen of Tears (🇰🇷) – I started this as it aired but dropped it, and honestly, I probably should’ve left it there. There was no chemistry between the leads (even though I like their acting individually), and the makjang elements couldn’t even justify the plot holes. Yet another case of trying to throw in every possible trope and failing to tie it all together.

The Frog (🇰🇷) – Should’ve dropped this after episode two. But I stuck with it for you, my dear Go Min Si.

Gangnam B-Side (🇰🇷) – It felt like a spin-off of The Worst of Evil set in modern-day Gangnam — and I’m not even complaining. The Worst of Evil was my highlight last year, and while Gangnam B-Side isn’t as cohesive, it’s worth it for those standout scenes with Ji Chang Wook and Bibi.

[oinkinpigprince]

Scientist!Charlie x Android!Pim 🙏

Wow, I this is fascinating! I love Detroit become human but honestly I feel like I’m going to have fun with this :o))!!

I’ll be referring to Pim as an it, for the sillies

Scientist!Charlie x android!Pim

Charlie has been working on his latest invention for about a decade, since he was getting older(he’s only 30??) he wanted a companion to keep him company and share his secrets with

So he created P.I.M! It isn’t an acronym he just thought it would be more sciencey. A companion he could share all his thoughts with

He actually didn’t create Pim with the idea of romance, Pim was just suppose to be a kind supportive friend. Charlie found himself seeking Pim for comfort when troubles arise in his life, especially social life.

Pim was given the ability to adapt and learn as it goes, getting pretty limited access to the internet during the earlier years to ensured he stayed positive and optimistic! It mainly watched light hearted comedies and romance movies, documentaries about anything, and animated movies/shows. Which morphed its personality a considerable bit

After charlie made sure Pim wouldn’t go bat shit and rip peoples spines out, he let Pim have free roam of the world. Until someone put Pim in a trash can then Charlie decided to stay close to him when it wanted to leave. Pim was just too trusting and believed everyone is his friend(he still thinks that)

Charlie of course kept tabs on Pim, watching him progress and learn. Pim didn’t like the sad or more brutal movies like Charlie did, it was interesting to see the androids reasons.

After a while he just kinda stopped, Pim became more and more like a true friend. Charlie was shocked with the humanity and understanding the robot showed. A small voice use to tell him that it was just because he was programmed to think this way, but as the two got to know each other more and more Charlie felt, like Pim was more of a person.

Pim grew more fond of Charlie as he learned about everything, it was like Pim had known Charlie for years. It asked questions and was fascinated by the answers, it never seemed to get tired of talking to Charlie, program or not. Charlie is his most special friend in the whole world

Charlie realized he had developed a crush on Pim when one night the two were talking and Pim leaned on Charlie to show comfort. He felt his heart race like never before, it scared him almost

Pim just is very physically affectionate with Charlie and it makes him so flustered. He loves it but he also hates it, it’s confusing

Talking about romance with Pim was a little, confusing. Pim couldn’t seem to understand the concept of it, it’s like a person you REALLY like right? Someone you want to spend your whole life with? Isn’t that just a really close friend?

The reason why Pim can’t figure it out is because he loves Charlie, and it just had no idea how to process romance so the closest thing it could find was friendship

Charlie had to explain “No Pim, friends don’t just kiss each other. Have you been kissing random people? Is that why I found you in the trash can?”

Pim is very straight forward with Charlie, scarily straight forward. When it finally clicked he straight up looked at Charlie and said “oh! I love you!” And Charlie just stood there blushing

Charlie has to explain what happens next after the, very interesting confession and Pim is so excited, NOW WE GET TO HUG? LETS GO!

It loves how soft and warm Charlie is, Pims soft ig but it’s artificial softness and it’s cold af. It likes to just curl into Charlie and feel the warmth of blood

Charlie gets so protective over Pim, he’s scared Pim will honestly trust the wrong person and divulge all of their personal information

Pim will forever see Charlie as is best friend, and is glad it got to know Charlie when it did

I can so easily make this sad :3

[daenysthedreamer101]

Youngest Original ~ TVDU

Ch 5 - Where are you?

Mikaelson!OC

Warnings: none really, minor description of blood, compulsion

Masterlist

This is the shortest chapter by far, save the prologue and it is kind of filler but I liked it regardless, hope you like it as well

I'm a shoulder you can cry on Your best friend, I'm the one you must rely on

Mystic Falls, September 2010

In the following weeks, the renovations on the mansion Kassandra and Klaus picked out took place. It was mostly over, the only place left was the entrance hall. The bedrooms upstairs were all finished.

Klaus was currently gone, doing God knows what with his hybrids, so she was alone in the house. She was brushing out her hair and listening to music. Many of the artists she loved in the 80s and 90s were now older or passed away. She cried when she found out Michael Jackson passed away.

She was listening to "Chiquitita" by ABBA. As the finishing touch, she sprayed perfume on her wrists and neck - it was vanilla-scented with hints of rose and citrus. Once she was satisfied with herself she made her way downstairs.

Her mind was on her sister. It's been weeks and there was no sign of her. Rebekah was capable of protecting herself, sure, but she would be defenseless with a dagger in her heart. Kassandra sighed as she nervously played with the heart-shaped ring on her hand. 

Stefan Salvatore had stolen the caskets containing her sibling's bodies and he was using that as leverage against Klaus. "I just hope we find them soon..." She thought as she poured herself blood into a wine glass.

~

Kassie was currently on the couch in the living room - she was watching the movie adaptation of one of her favorite novels, The Lord Of the Rings. The movies were filmed and released while she was daggered so she only recently found out about their existence. 

She was currently on the scene where Aragorn and Arwen were talking to each other before the shards of Narsil when all of a sudden Klaus came in bursting through the house, sounding rather annoyed.

"Kassandra!" He yelled, his voice echoing through the large mansion. She sighed and paused the movie. 

"Here." She answered softly, knowing he would hear her. In an instant, he appeared in front of her. She looked up at him, with an annoyed expression on her face. "Yes?"

"Put some shoes on. We're going on a little field trip." He said as he took the remote from her hands and turned off the TV. 

"Hey! I was watching that!" She exclaimed. 

"What do you mean field trip? What are you talking about?" Kassie asked, confused.

"I've found a way to find Bekah." He replied. 

She looked at him suspiciously. "How?" She asked with narrowed eyes. 

"And here I thought Rebekah was the judgy one." He joked. "What do you think I've been doing all this time?" 

Kassie simply shrugged her shoulders. Klaus chuckled and put his arm around her. "Have some faith in me, love." She gave him an unimpressed look.

"So, what is your master plan?" She asked as she got up from the couch, in the process pushing away Klaus's arm.

He chuckled again. "It's fairly simple - a locator spell." 

"Of course! God, how haven't I thought of that!?" Kassie exclaimed. They walked toward the front door where her jacket was. "So that means you found a witch to help you?"

"Naturally."

"Right. But don't you need the blood of a relative to find the missing person?"

"And that's where you come in, dear sister." He said as he held the door open and the two of them walked out of the house.

Kassie furrowed her brows. "But you're her sibling as well. Why didn't you just give your blood?"

"The witch demanded your blood. She said yours would be better since you and Bekah are full-blooded siblings." He replied and Kassie didn't miss the hurt in his voice.

"And the witch said it would work even better because of your matching rings" Klaus added as they got inside his car.

Kassie and Bekah had matching heart-shaped rings. They were fairly simple in design, the only difference was that Rebekah's was made of gold and Kassie's was silver. They bought them from a small jewelry store back in the 1800s. The two sisters never took them off. (xx)

"Right...so where are we going exactly?"

"Thankfully for us, she moved to Richmond a couple of years ago."

~

Two hours later they found themselves in front of a small, shabby-looking apothecary. Klaus entered first and Kassie followed. The inside didn't look any better - dust was visible in the air, cobwebs covered most of the shelves, and an unpleasant smell of something burning was present.

"How...lovely..." Kassandra remarked as she looked around unimpressed.

"Now, now love, we're not here to be judgy," Klaus responded. Soon after, an elderly woman appeared. She was on the shorter side. Her golden hair was tied back into one long braid. Her icy blue eyes bore into Kassandra. 

Even though her youth was fading away, Kassie could see traces of her former beauty. The woman wore a flowy blue dress with long sleeves and had many necklaces covering her neck. On her head, she had a beautiful black headband. 

"Kassandra, this is Natalya. She will help us find Bekah." Klaus introduced the two women. The witch grabs Kassandra's hand and takes off her heart-shaped ring. After a few seconds, she lets her go and goes behind the counter.

She opens up a map of Virginia and puts it on the counter. She also brings out a knife. "Will you do it or shall I?" The witch asks Kassandra. 

Kassie is quiet for a second, then picks up the knife and cuts her left palm. She hissed but endured the pain. Blood dripped from her hand down onto the map. Natalya took the ring, grabbed Kassie's free hand, and started muttering.

As she was muttering, the blood started moving around the map. After a couple of seconds, it stopped right above two words - Mystic Falls. 

"I knew it! I told you, she never left town." Kassie exclaimed. 

Klaus hummed in response. "I think I know where she is." 

After they met with the witch, they returned to their mansion. Klaus poured himself a glass of bourbon while Kassandra watched, waiting for him to reveal his plan. 

He downed the remainder of his drink and turned to his sister. "Here's what you'll do. You'll go to their little Mystic Falls High and compel yourself an enrollment paper." 

"You want me to enroll in their high school? Why?" Kassie asked with furrowed brows.

"Because, little dove, I need you to be my eyes and ears since Rebekah is down at the moment." He explained while one of his hands moved a strand of hair from her face.

"You want me to spy on Elena and her friends." She concluded quickly.

"I knew you were a smart girl." He said with a wicked smile.

"But they'll know it's me. Stefan will recognize me." Kassie pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. What can they do against you? To everyone else, you're just the new girl in town." 

Kassie sighed. "I'll get to it, then." She picked up her purse, took the car keys from the table, and begrudgingly went to do what was expected of her.

~

"This is ridiculous." She thought as she parked the expensive Audi in the school parking lot. She got out of the car and walked inside the building. Her heels clicked against the floor, the sound reverberating off the walls. 

The halls were quiet and the school was almost empty, save for a few professors and a janitor. There seemed to be no students present. "To be fair it is Friday evening." She told herself.

She finally found her way into the office of the school secretary. "Right. Let's get this over with." Kassie thought as she entered the office. 

The woman seemed surprised by her entrance and asked her what she needed. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. I need enrollment papers." Kassie said, trying to be nice before inevitably using her powers. 

"Do you have any documentation with you?"

"No."

"Hun, how do you think to enroll without any documentation?"

"Like this," Kassie said as she leaned over the counter, looked the woman in the eye, and compelled her. 

After 10 minutes of waiting Kassie got her papers. She once again compelled the woman to forget their entire interaction and then left the office. 

~

Sherrif Liz Forbes was in Mystic Falls High, picking up some papers for Caroline. On her way there, she noticed an expensive-looking car parked in front of the school.

Once she entered the school and was walking toward the secretary's office, she saw an unfamiliar young woman walking out of said office.

The girl was tall, with long brown hair, and was dressed affluently. There was something odd about her, Liz thought, she didn't seem like a regular high school girl.

Before she could do anything, the girl was gone. Shaking her head, Liz entered the office and greeted the secretary. 

"Hello, Grace." 

"Oh, Liz! Hello, how are you?"

"I'm good...Grace, who was that girl?" Liz asked.

Grace tilted her head in confusion. "What girl?"

"...The girl that just walked out of your office."

"There was no one here. You're the first person to enter my office since lunch break." 

"Are you sure?" Liz asked again.

Grace chuckled. "I think I would know if someone entered my office, Liz." 

"Of course," Liz said, alarm bells going on in her head. "A vampire..." she thought grimly. 

***

Kassie and Klaus figured out that Bekah was daggered and we see how deep Kassie's care is for Bekah. We see her compel her way into high school lol and at the end, Sheriff Liz almost catches Kassie in the act. Hmmm..

Thank you for reading 💜💜💜

If you have any opinions feel free to comment!

[snakxreader]

With the silly spooky Halloween day coming up in like- 2 days- can we get a silly little story where Triffany, Wambus, and the Reader watch a horror movie? Maybe 2 movies even? And then later on, they cuddle in the middle of the night on the couch because at least one of them had a nightmare?

A/N: I HAD TO STRUGGLE TO KEEP MY EYES AWAKE BUT. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! I GOT IT DONE!! Thank you everyone for being so so patient with me despite everything, I honestly don’t deserve it ^^’. As a treat, I did something a little extra as a joke.

Ooc Spoilers for the fic:

I’d say I’m sorry…but I’m really not lmaooo

Wambus x Triffany x Reader (Halloween Movie Night)

“I dunno why I let y’all talk me into this…”

“Come on, Wamby! It’ll be fun! I’ve heard good things about this movie! It’s supposed to be really good!”

Wambus still scowls, drumming nervously on the couch with his fingers, while Triffany tried to soothe him. You, meanwhile, was trying to find the movie on your streaming services, finally stumbling upon it on Peacock.

“Finally…” You groan, before turning to face your partners with an ecstatic expression. “Alright, darling, honey, welcome to the movie adaptation of one of the best horror franchises in the known world…..Five Nights at Freddy’s!”

You’re not a stranger to the franchise. You came across it randomly one day and found the idea so interesting that you binged playthroughs of all of the games. Your partners, while not really that understanding of it, have seen your dedication of it and respect it. When the movie was first announced, it was actually Triffany who suggested you all watch together.

Wambus was….less thrilled about the idea.

He wasn’t a big horror movie fan. Or a horror fan period. Never did good with the subject. You had to plead with him to watch the movie with nhim. And by plead, you just gave him puppy dog eyes until he caved in. Worth it though, as now you get to cuddle nest to the cutest Grumpuses in the world and watch a movie you’ve been exicted for ages.

“I still don’t see the point in watchin’ this…” Wambus grumbled, as you plopped next to him. “Why don’t we do somethin’ like..give out candy to kids on Halloween? Why we gotta watch blood and gore all the dang time.”

You patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Awww….it’s ok, you can hold our hands if you get scared.”

Unfortunately for Wambus, months of knowing him have made any sort of glare at you ineffective to getting you to back off. Instead, you just gave his cheek a nuzzle, feeling his fur bristle and hearing the little deep grumbling as he blushes.

“I don’t think it's gonna be that bad, actually.” Triffany interjects. “Last I’ve heard, it’s more a thriller than anythin’.” She says, throwing a blanket around all of you. Wambus still huffs but looks slightly more relieved. He leans on her shoulder as you press the play button, resting your head on Wambus’s arm, before he tucks you under it.

True to Triffany’s word, the movie is more thriller than actual slasher or psychological horror. Of course, the horror that was there, was in your opinion, perfectly executed, and well done. The retro, early 90s vibe it was trying to give added to the aspect and it made the experience all that more memorable.

Triffany was probably the most invested out of all of you, having been invested in the game’s timeline since you told her about it. She spent the movie trying to link the events there to what she had heard from you or seen about. The things that didn’t add up with the orginal were major, but she appericated the side plot between the two main characters, her cooing at the events.

Wambus was incredibly jittery and silent, almost jumping out of his body at the slightest fright. He yelped at every jumpscare, holding onto you and his wife’s hands tightly, so a sense of comfort. You both are more than willing to hold him right the whole movie, helping the brusque man through some of the harsher scenes. And somewhere along the way, he began to ease up a little.

When all was said and done, you three had all decently enjoyed yourselves, though one of you only enjoyed the close time with his partners. Regardless, drowsiness eventually overtook and you headed to bed, snuggled right in-between Wambus and Triffany.

You woke up one a.m. to an almost empty bed, devoid of one of the partners you were snuggled against. Groaning, you pulled yourself away from whoever was spooning you, albeit unwillingly, and headed out of the bedroom. In the distance, you could hear the living room television go off, alerting you to a presence in the house. Quietly and slowly, you step down the stairs towards the sound of the television, to find a familiar blue lug in front of it. He looked exhausted, weary eye bags under his face as he muttered to himself. You quietly sat next to him, causing him to jolt in shock before seeing your face.

“Hi Wamby…” You murmured, slipping his hand into yours.

“I’m sorry I woke ya.”

“Don’t worry about it.” You reassure him. “You ok?”

Wambus fell silent. You didn’t make him talk. Wambus still had struggles opening up about his emotions, even to you and Triffany. “….You’ll laugh.” He finally laments.

“Never.” Your voice is firm and steady. You’d never laugh at him over something that was clearly bothering him.

He sighed. “I had. A nightmare about that stupid movie. Getting chased by one of those dumb animatronics.”

“Oh hon.” You gently snort, and backtrack when you see his hurt face. “Not like that. It’s just, your nightmares are really common with this franchise.”

Wambus blinked. “…Really?” He rasped. You nodded. “I’ve…actually had a few myself.”

“You? You didn’t even flinch at the deaths and gore!”

“Once, I had a dream where I was chased by Foxy all the way down our block.” You said, reliving the event and rubbing Wambus’s back. “I was, like, pissing myself scared. Looking back, it’s kind of funny.”

The farmer seemed to relax a bit, groaning deeply. You didn’t press, simply basking in the silence of the TV. The creaking of the stairs and floorboard break it.

“What’re ya two doing up so late….?” Triffany yawns, sliding right next to you and dealing her arms around Wambus.

“Bad dream.”

“Ock-“ Triffany cuddles closer to Wambus. “I’m sorry dear, you want to talk about it?”

Wambus yawned. “….I was being chased and cornered by that stupid bear.”

“Sorry, hun. Do you want us to stay with you tonight on the couch?”

Wambus hesitated. “…That. Would be nice, yes.”

The blanket from earlier is once more draped across you three, everyone shifting into comfortable positions while the television blared. You three watched the show on there, some late night gane show.

“….Thank you.” You heard Wambus mumble, drowsy in his tone. “I love you two so much.”

“Always sweetheart. We love ya too.” Triffany says, as you nod in agreement.

After a minute, you can hear the soft snores of Wambus as Triffany snorts lovingly. “Must've been exhausted, big goof.” She turns to you. “You should rest up too, hun.”

“Triffs, I’m fi-”

“Shhhh.” She stroked your fur, and immediately you melted into her. Damn your weak spots. “Go back to bed hun….just ease your mind….”

You don’t even remember your eyes closing before you pass out.

[krissiefox]

Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) Movie Review!

While I was sick recently, I was holed up in my room trying not to infect the rest of my family. I'd been reading Sonic fanfics in the meantime, and this gave me the idea to finally watch the DVD I got of the the 2020 Sonic movie, and then of course, I wanted to write a review, because it's fun (and my wife seems to like them)! I'll put a divider here, because this review does contain spoilers for most of the plot points, so this is your warning before you read on!

To get the unfortunate bits out of the way, the movie had a rough start, with the strange first design of Sonic becoming a social media trend of snark and negativity that I remember making me pretty depressed. In response to the backlash, Paramount changed up Sonic's design to something cuter. I've heard mixed claims saying that during this time the artists for the movie were abused with crunch, while others claim this didn't occur, so I'm not sure about whether or not it happened, but I hope not.

A worried Sonic ball, hiding from badniks....

With that unpleasantness out of the way, the movie eventually finished and came out, and at-least on tumblr I saw a lot of folks seemed to really enjoy it. My little brother expressed interest in watching it with me, so eventually while out shopping with my wife I picked up copies of the first two movies.

This movie does commit the act of "Hollywood Video Game Adaptations" by largely changing the source material and basically creating another AU for the Sonicverse, and I know that's a turnoff for some, so this wouldn't be every one's cup of tea as many folks would prefer something rooted in one the already established Sonic worlds. I was able to enjoy the film though, and found it quite cute, sweet and funny. It also gave warm fuzzies to see my favorite childhood video game hero in his first big screen movie adaption.

The Story follows Sonic as he is ousted from his home world by his owl mom to live on Earth, after a tribe of echidnas attacks their house. Sonic is ordered to live in hiding, and is given a bag of magic teleportation rings that he is to use only in an emergency to escape to another place.

As ordered, Sonic lives on Earth in secret, in a town called Green Hills. He spies on the humans and enjoys learning about Earth, but is still very lonely as he isn't allowed to interact with them. Some of his favorite humans are a local couple that he has named "Donut Lord" and "Pretzel Lady". One night, while playing at a baseball field at night, Sonic gets so upset about his isolated life that he causes a massive power surge with his speed, drawing attention to his location.

Dr. Robotnik meets Donut Lord!

The government calls in Dr. Robotnik (and his minion/boyfriend Agent Stone), whom in this universe is an earthling rather than a resident of Mobius. He is played by Jim Carrey as a delightfully fun and strange villain throughout the film. He takes over the search for the source of the power surge, and eventually closes in on the cave Sonic has been living in.

In a panic, Sonic decides he'll need to bail on this world, though he hates the thought of having to do so, being so fond oft it. He sneaks into Donut Lords home to use one of his teleport rings, when Donut (aka Tom) finds him and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart gun. One of Sonic's rings opens up and since Donut's shirt made Sonic think of San Francisco, that's where the portal leads to and Sonic's rings end up there.

After getting to know each-other, Sonic and Donut end up fleeing as vigilantes both from the government and Dr. Robotnik. Eventually they make it to San Francisco, Sonic gets his rings back, and he has a big showdown with Robotnik where he ends up sending Robotnik through a portal to the mushroom world he was originally going to go to. Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady end up adopting Sonic, and the movie wraps up as Sonic sees his new bedroom in a really sweet scene. Mid credits, we also get a teaser showing Tails arriving on Earth!

One of the movie's more badass looking scenes.

Outside of the aforementioned issue that creating an entirely new Sonic AU for the film will alienate some folks, my only other criticism is that I would have liked to learn more Sonic's owl mom, as she seemed pretty cool. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the film quite a bit. It was colorful, pretty, Sonic was adorable, Robotnik was very funny, and Sonic's new friends were quite likeable. Definitely a recommended watch for anyone curious about the film. :) I may end up watching the sequel sometime soon, too!