#I have so many ideas that would make good short films or one acts actually

[s-ccaam-era-crepe]

gay tea time yayyy

[dudadragneel]

🖤I was thinking of a lee know/yn fic in which he’s had a lot of work lately and he’s tired and down, so he and yn plan a picnic for the weekend.

it’s all sunny and good weather when the day comes, but inside lee know it’s a whole other story. he wakes up like he didn’t get a single hour of sleep, his stomach is tense and his head hurts. he wakes up earlier than yn so he makes breakfast, but it ends up being a bad idea to eat it and he starts to feel it come right up. it’s random cause he didn’t feel nauseous before, but after the ordeal he definitely is and his stomach isn’t only tense, but also tender now.

when yn wakes up she notices sth wrong but lee know brushes it off as tiredness. she eats her breakfast and they walk to the park with their picnic baskets. good, cause lee know doubted he’d have made it through a car ride.

in the park the sun is bright and it’s hot which messes with lee know quite a bit, but luckily by the time they have to eat a soft breeze has started to blow, calming him down.

they eat their food, but lee know has a hard time and that’s when he may admit he doesn’t feel good, but at this point he’d rather stay in the park, so they do. yn knows that lee know doesn’t like worry, so she doesn’t act too soft about it but obviously cares.

they end up looking at the clouds with lee know laying his head on yn’s legs while she plays with his hair, trying to make loose braids. they unbraid quickly since his hair is short but it’s fine. after a bit he starts feeling better so they film TikToks and decide they want to roll down the hill and see who gets to the bottom faster. childish but fun.

but then everything goes downhill, literally, cause spinning obviously was a bad idea for lee know and now he can really feel his tummy cramping harshly. they go back to their picnic blanket to try to calm him down which doesn’t work, and he starts to feel too hot and suffocated while trying to stop the pain in his stomach, which is making it hard to breathe. it almost makes him tear up cause it’s bad, and when it gets even worse he can’t hold anything back, and I don’t mean only tears…

p.s: I feel like lee know and yn should be kinda similar, so it’d be cool if you could make her have a bit of a teasing and sassy personality like him.

Dear 🖤, I hope you like this one! I tried my best to make them both sassy 😅

A DATE GONE DOWNHILL

Dating an idol wasn't an easy task, first, you needed to mind where you would have your dates so there were no fans or paparazzi around. Second, his hectic schedule made it harder to have actual dates, like dinner, going to the beach, etc, so usually you would meet him at the dorms or your house. And you two had agreed that he'd sleep there whenever he felt like it since being away from the mess and chaos of the dorm could help him relax a bit.

Preparing for a comeback, his last few weeks were totally packed with schedules, he barely rested or ate. He would call you every day to talk about his day and you would listen to every single word he said and you noticed he was sounding more and more tired as the days went by.

When he got a little break, he was exhausted and feeling down, mostly because he couldn't see you and also due to the stress of not getting everything the way he wanted to. He wanted perfection, but that is a hard thing to accomplish.

You couldn't just sit still and watch him like that, he needed a breather so he could relax a bit and replenish his energy for the next round of schedules.

You thought of a picnic and he agreed with the idea. He went to your house so he could get a good night's sleep before the date, he was tired but he wanted to have fun with you.

Morning rose, the day was beautiful and sunny and you were super excited for the date, it was a real one after so many weeks.

However, things weren't looking good for Lee Know, and from the moment he got up, he knew the day would be a tough one. Even after sleeping for 7h to 8h hours straight, he woke completely drained, like didn't sleep at all. He sat on the edge of the bed and assessed his situation, he was tired, his head was hurting and his stomach was acting up.

He liked cooking, especially for you so he went to the kitchen to make breakfast, despite wanting to stay in bed a little longer with hopes that he would feel better.

He made your breakfast, set it on the table, and then made his. He just leaned against the counter and started munching on the light breakfast he made for himself. But after a couple of bites, he started to chew on it and couldn't quite swallow it. He kept on chewing until it turned into mush and forced it down, and it felt gross. He didn't know why that was happening but he soon found out because as soon as he swallowed, he felt it coming back up.

He turned to the sink, opened his mouth, and let out what seemed to be the last bite he had, he quickly turned on the water to wash away that disgusting thing. He was as surprised as he could get because he wasn't feeling nauseous, he thought what he felt when he got up was hunger but now he understood it wasn't. And as if couldn't get worse, he now could say with 100% certainty that he was feeling nauseous and his headache wasn't exactly helping either.

He held himself against the counter, rinsed his mouth, and then took deep breaths to try to calm down. Thankfully he managed to calm down but now his stomach was definitely feeling weird, he had this thought deep in his mind that his stomach would not be accepting food any time soon. Great, what a way to start the day.

After a couple of minutes, you woke up and made your way to the kitchen and saw the image of this handsome boy wearing shorts and a plain white shirt, simple, but the light of the early morning sun shining through the window made him look ethereal.

You walked towards him, wrapping your hands around his waist and kissing him.

- Good morning, Babe.

- Good morning.

He said kissing you as well. When you pulled away from the hug, you immediately noticed his expression wasn't looking too good.

- Are you okay?

You said, looking him in the eyes.

- Yeah. I'm just tired.

- Couldn't sleep well?

- I did but the week's been pretty packed so I'm still tired.

Lies. But he hoped you'd buy that excuse, the last thing he wanted was to worry you and ruin this so-anticipated date.

- Okay then.

- I made you breakfast.

He said, still holding your waist and pointing towards the meal set on the table.

- Thank you, sweetie.

You sat down and started eating your breakfast, Minho sitting in front of you, just admiring and patiently waiting for you to finish.

Once you were done, both of you changed into light comfortable summer clothes and finished setting everything inside the picnic basket.

The park you chose was not too far from your house so you decided to walk there and enjoy the scenery together.

Minho was grateful for your choice because even though he was feeling a little bit better he knew a car ride would have the worst outcome.

The walk to the park consisted of both of you complaining about how hot it was and how it felt like it was burning you alive.

Finally arriving, you two found a nice spot next to the lake and underneath a big tree, which meant you'd have a nice shade for your picnic.

Since you just had breakfast, none of you wanted to eat just yet, and Minho preferred not to eat all. He was feeling better when they left the house, but the walk under the sun and just how hot the park was, had messed with him. His head was hurting and honestly starting to throb, he was feeling a bit lightheaded, and his stomach was acting up.

Shit. Will the date really go wrong? He thought to himself, but he still didn't want to tell you about it, even though you had already picked up.

- While the sun melts us off our bones... Let's chat for a bit.

He said with a tone of sarcasm and a smile that just made you laugh. The way he managed to say such things and then put on a soft, but also almost menacing smile after was amazing.

- Why are you laughing? Am I funny?

- No. It's just the way you said it

- Oh, so I'm not funny? Okay, I'll remember this.

- Oh stop, Babe!

You said laughing and shoving him, earning a cute laugh.

You two talked, while the sun did indeed melt you, but you two made an effort to not talk about work or it would stress both of you, and your goal was to help Lee Know to get his mind off work.

You really wanted to enjoy the picnic, but it was scorching hot, not even the shade was doing much. The extremely high temperature was still doing its number on Minho, his head was throbbing and the sunlight wasn't exactly helping, he was starting to feel nauseous and worried if he'd manage to eat something or even just enjoy the date. When a sharp pain stung his head, he flinched a little and it caught your attention.

- Honey, what is it?

- Nothing, just looked at the sun and my eyes hurt.

- You didn't bring any sunglasses, did you?

- No.

- Here, put these on, and see if they'll help.

- Thanks.

It did help a bit, but everything else was still annoying him, yet he was in his decision to not tell you anything.

After a few more minutes of chatting, it was about lunchtime, so you started to organize the food you had brought.

Fortunately, the sun was hidden by some clouds and a light breeze cooled both of you down and relaxed Minho, who was tense at the thought of having to eat.

- Let's eat!

He had helped you prepare everything the night before, and both of you were good cooks, so it was safe to say the food was delicious. You were really excited to try everything, now Lee knows, not so much. Just the sight of everything and all the smells mixing together circling around him because of the breeze was making him start to feel sick again. He took a deep breath in and grabbed something to eat.

While you were enjoying and savoring every bite of everything, Minho was having a hard time swallowing the tiny bites he was trying to eat. He'd take a bite and chew until it turned into a tasteless paste, which made it even harder to swallow, he almost gagged a few times.

Surprisingly, he managed to eat a few things but they didn't taste as good as he'd wished, the same process of chewing it and trying to swallow repeated, and then his stomach sent him a warning, telling him that was enough food.

He was almost regretting eating at all when his stomach started to feel really full and off, the food obviously not sitting well. The feeling was so annoying he couldn't quite hide it anymore.

- Honey...

He said quietly, fidgeting with his fingers while looking at you, who was still enjoying your meal.

- What is it? Are you done eating?

You asked with a certain tone of surprise, noticing he didn't do as much as he usually did.

- Yes...I don't feel good...

- What is it?

- My stomach...

- Do you wanna go home?

- Not really, between staying at home and here. I'd rather stay, it's cooler here.

- Alright.

He took a few sips of water and hoped it wouldn't mess with his already sensitive stomach and it didn't, thankfully.

Since the sun was still hidden, you two decided to watch the clouds and just try to get rid of all the stress you'd been feeling.

He lay down on your lap and you lower yourself to kiss him, making his heart skip a beat.

- I like that.

He said with a beautiful smile, extending his hand to touch your cheek and tuck your hair behind your ear.

- I love you.

- I love you too, honey.

You reaffirmed, mimicking the gentle gesture. He closed his eyes and focused on the breeze and your presence, trying to relax every fiber in his body and enjoy the moment.

- Babe?

- Hm?

- Can I braid your hair?

- Only if you make me look pretty.

- Don't you trust my skills?

- Your hair styling skills? Nope.

- Minho!

- I'm joking.

He laughed. You proceeded to make tiny braids in his silky hair but they'd get undone as you went on, but he seemed to be enjoying it so you didn't mind.

Your touch and the light breeze that was still around, helped him feel a bit better, not 100% but enough to enjoy the date a bit more.

- Babe, do you wanna film some TikToks?

- Why? As long as it's not a challenge...

Since TikTok got famous, it became a trend to do challenges of every music that came out, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit tired of it.

- It's not. I just wanted to film this moment. We don't get to go on many dates like this, so I wanna make memories and cherish them.

He smiled at you and got up, and then you set the phone so it would record. He stood out his hand and asked:

- Will you grant me this dance?

- Of course.

You said blushing and taking his hand, he pulled you closer to him and kissed you before starting the dance.

You two were so lovey-dovey, that if it were any of the other members with their s/o, Minho would be teasing them non-stop.

When you decided to do other dances and asked him to teach you some moves, he started teasing you, but you wouldn't let it slide.

- Woah, since when you were so bad at dancing?

- What? I'm bad at dancing? Are you sure you're not a bad teacher?

- I'm the best teacher out there, you're just not a good student.

- Of course, I am! Get off your high horse, Mr Lee Minho. I actually learned some of your choreographies by myself, and they were perfect. Admit it, you're not a good teacher.

You said crossing your arms and smiling menacingly at him.

- Alright, touché.

You recorded a few more videos, dancing together and just laughing and enjoying every single second, and then you had an idea.

- Say, why don't we roll downhill, and the last to get to the bottom pays for dinner?

- Deal.

Minho had no idea why he agreed so quickly, knowing that doing that would probably be the last straw, and boy, it was.

You were enjoying this date like a kid and Lee Know wish he could say the same, it was painful to see you so happy while he couldn't share that with you.

- Ready?

- Ready.

- 1, 2, 3 go!

You started the race and as Lee Know was going down, everything inside his stomach was rolling around as well, it was revolted and angry at him, to say the least.

You got to the bottom faster than him and started to celebrate, but then you noticed that something was definitely wrong, Minho wasn't just tired.

When he reached the bottom, he immediately got up so he was kneeling on the grass. He grabbed his middle with one hand while the other helped keep his body steady, his stomach was cramping really badly and its contents were still swirling around.

- Honey? Are you okay?

- No...my stomach is killing me.

- Let's go back up, come on.

- Can you help me?

- Yes.

You went to his side, put one of his arms on your shoulder, and wrapped yours around his waist helping him up and guiding him up. The pain was bad enough for him to walk up while hunched over, arm still holding his stomach.

- Here we are.

You gently helped him sit down and grabbed a water bottle, handing it to him.

- Try to drink slowly.

He tried taking small sips but it wasn't working, his stomach was cramping without giving him any break. And to add to his misery, the sun was out again and it seemed like it was hotter than before.

- It's too hot...

He complained, fanning his shirt, suddenly his clothes felt tighter against his skin, like it was trying to suffocate him. The air around him felt hot and he couldn't breathe properly, so his breathing was erratic and he was almost hyperventilating.

- Honey, I need you to breathe with me.

You were now getting worried about him having heat exhaustion.

- Honey, you have a tank top underneath, right?

- Y-yes-.

He said weakly, trying to regulate his breathing. You knew he wasn't comfortable with being shirtless, especially in public, as you found out early in your relationship, that he only felt comfortable enough with you or the members.

- Then take off your shirt, it'll help you feel less hot.

He took it off and you placed a cool ice pack you had brought, on his nape. But the discomfort was too much, it wasn't only the nausea or the heat but also the pain in his stomach and the fact that he was ruining the date you were so excited about. It was getting so unbearable he started crying silently.

- Minho? What's wrong?

But he didn't answer, he was too focused on breathing through the nausea and the pain, you noticed his distress and grabbed his hand, trying to ground him.

- I'm right here Babe.

He squeezed it so tightly it almost hurt you, but you didn't mind, as long as it could help, even if just a little bit.

But his stomach decided it had enough, it started cramping even worse as if punishing him for stupidly agreeing with rolling down a hill.

When got really quiet, focusing his gaze on the ground, not moving a muscle.

- Minho?

You barely had the chance to ask anything before he gagged one time and turned around so he wouldn't soil the blanket. He coughed up a thick stream of partially digested food and you could see pieces of the lunch he just had.

You placed your hand on his back and started rubbing it up and down, while still holding his hand. He had his eyes squeezed and a painful expression on his face, as another bout of vomit gushed out immediately followed by another that left him out of air.

- That's it, Babe. Just get everything that's bothering you, out.

His stomach cramped again, making him lurch forward, arching his back painfully forcing out another wave of putrid vomit.

He was feeling so embarrassed that you had to see him like this. The fact that he was the second oldest in the group made him build a wall around him, a wall that only you and Chan could walk through.

For a moment his stomach gave him a break, allowing him to breathe and only making him spit out thick saliva from time to time.

Thank God there weren't that many people in the park, you knew he'd be feeling 10x worse if there were people looking at him.

- Here honey, rinse your mouth.

He rinsed his mouth and then took very small sips, afraid that whatever made its way in would immediately make its way out. You wiped his mouth, and his forehead which was dumped with sweat, and helped him sit back for a while and see if the nausea would ease a bit.

- There we go.

- I'm sorry...

- You don't need to apologize honey.

- But I ruined our date and you were so excited about it.

- You didn't ruin anything. We had fun, didn't we?

- Yes but look at the mess I made.

- Honey, I knew you looked off this morning but I didn't say anything out of respect for you. I know you don't like us getting worried about you, so I decided to just wait for you.

- I appreciate it.

- Say, why don't we go home so you can take a shower and rest? It's getting too hot in here and it won't help you.

- Yes, please.

- Alright. Just let me get this organized first.

You packed everything inside the basket and then walked up to Minho.

- Honey, can you stand? Or are you feeling dizzy?

- A bit dizzy...

The heat along with the ordeal of throwing up everything he'd eaten made him feel weak, he just wanted to go home but he was afraid of collapsing and worrying you even more.

- Just...give me a minute...

- Of course.

You sat down beside him, placing the ice pack on his neck again.

- Take deep breaths, babe.

You said as your other hand rested on his chest, trying to provide him as much comfort as you could.

He grabbed your hand and tried breathing along with you. After a few minutes, he felt well enough to try to walk home.

You helped him up and wrapped your arms around him.

- I'm sorry...

- Minho, stop apologizing, please. Let me know if you feel faint or if you wanna throw up again, ok?

- Yeah.

He was completely exhausted, all his energy had been drained from his body and he was still feeling too hot, it was still difficult to breathe properly. He was a professional dancer, he was an idol, he had to dance and sing at the same time and yet, today, this short walk home was making him insanely tired.

His vision was swaying and his stomach was acting up again, the last thing he needed was to vomit in the middle of the street but his body didn't give him much of a choice.

- Honey...I'm gonna be sick

- There's a bench over there, come on.

You guided him to the bench and gave him a plastic bag that was inside the basket. He grabbed the edges and burped a few times before vomiting what felt like his guts, the sound of it hitting the plastic made you grimace a little.

He didn't take a breather before retching again, bringing stomach acid and water.

- Babe, I don't think you have anything left to vomit.

You took the plastic bag and disposed of it, then you gave Minho some water to rinse his mouth again.

You helped him up again and the rest of the walk back home didn't have any more accidents.

Getting home, he went straight to the shower, wanting to get rid of the disgust he was feeling from throwing up.

When he walked out, face a little red because of the sun, you had already gotten the bed ready so he could properly.

He lay down next to you embracing you, eyes still watery and extremely vulnerable, which was a side of him everyone rarely witnessed.

You embraced him back, placed a kiss on the top of his head and didn't say a word, respecting him. Just holding him, and rubbing his back as he cried, you didn't need to say anything, you just needed to be there and you were.

Minho could be mistaken for a cold person, but deep inside he was a warm person who cared for everyone before himself. He could be the second oldest, but he was Chan's precious dongsaeng and your most cherished soulmate.

[guster-animations]

Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 17 Production Blog

wonder surprise

TOKU TRANSLATION MASTERPOST HERE

from this website

-

Looking at the Next Episode

Happy new year. Did you eat many delicious things over the New Year? Whether it be food samples or documents, in preparatory meetings or on filming sets, it seems like the weight for all of the producers in the snack-filled “Gavv” has increased… We’ll keep working just as hard on “Gavv” this year!

Lage9 has begun to actually try. I wrote it last time, but Director Shibasaki focused a lot on the transformation scene and action. A unique point about Kamen Rider Vram is that it’s a Granute transforming. We started by asking, “Would they put the transformation belt in the mouth on their stomach?”. The action also makes the best of Lage9’s special traits. Action Director Fujita expressed his merciless strength with camerawork which heavily used slow-motion. It has unmatched coolness! The brashness of Eitoku’s suit acting is also wonderful.

Next is the pudding party. The subtitle also references pudding, because “caramel”… The names “Vram” and “Vrastam Gear” (the transformation belt) originate from the word “frustum” [the bottom part of a cone shape]. Picture a cup container of pudding— that’s a frustum. The idea for the name came from Shinichi Kaneko of Ishimori Productions. He also came up with the name “Granute” and the crab Granute’s name “Rojo”. He’s full of extensive knowledge and imagination. Mr. Kaneko will immediately tell you which Rider and scene it is when the specific topic comes up at script meetings. He’s so amazing!

And then Vram’s transformation scene. The giant pudding being made, and the spoons attaching themselves at the end, came from the genius imagination of the special effects director, Hiroshi Butsuda. The Tokusatsu Research Institute’s CG team was in charge of that transformation scene. I feel like the finished scene is a complete work of art comprised of the knowledge and ideas of many people. Everyone is putting all their effort into this in 2025 as well, and we’ll power-up to finish this!

(Written by Naomi Takebe)

The Episode in Short

Happy new year. Please keep supporting “Kamen Rider Gavv” this year as well!! Thank you for watching this first episode of the new year.

Huh, what’s this?!

“There were people who missed Gavv because of the New Year rush.”

”Whaaat? I did it!” [?]

“The man is silent…

TTFC!!”

“It’s a plenty good business.”

(If you missed a broadcast one week, you can still enjoy the show with the free services TVer, ABEMA, and TelAsa Video!)

The “Kamen Rider Outsiders” series, which Director Shibasaki (seen here being happy in his spiny lobster slippers) is part of, is also available for unlimited viewing on TTFC.

Okay, I’ve already done everything I wanted to do. There’s a theory that you forget everything you didn’t finish at the end of the year, but let’s go look at the things left over from the start of 2025!

That’s right, Hapipare is naturally decorated for New Year’s too.

I think there will be more interesting things in the program in the future, too!

Creepy-crawly Granutes!

The hunting ground Lage9 chose this week was a “bank fraud prevention seminar”. His eyes are both perceptive and elegant… it’s truly amazing.

It’s ironic that Lage9 kidnaps them and makes them falsely happy in a place where they’re meeting in order to not be deceived… even though he may have a secret motive other than collecting Human Presses.

And this time Nyelv, the one who found Lage9, comes to him with his own invention. Lage9 acted humble in front of the Stomach family members until now, but Nyelv liked him for his real, ruder personality. Good thing Nyelv didn’t get angry at him! (Can he even get angry…?)

Shoji and Takizawa are both people who can play an incredible range of personalities, and the two of them are humorous people when they’re not in character. The Stomach family cast members have all appeared on the Super Hero Time TikTok channel, so if you’re interested, please give that a look!

By the way, Shoji is good at turning off the highlights in his eyes (Laughs).

↑ The right eye has highlights, while the left doesn’t

This is from “Kiramager” episode 38, “Watching My Uncle’s Moon” (the title should be enough). In this scene, where Shoji’s character Takamichi is fascinated by an illusion, the highlights of his eyes were erased in post-production.

(Huh? What’s this mysterious scene? He’s doing El’Dunnade in front of Glajewel… Those interested should check TTFC!) [i haven’t watched kiramager please forgive me if these make no sense]

If he had an opportunity to be a victim of Illusia again, now being able to erase highlights by himself, the editing team’s workload would really decrease (Laughs).

Well, I said that half-jokingly, but Shoji is as conscious as the production team is of how he should move in relation to the camera to create the picture they are aiming for. I really do have the feeling that he’s good at finding how it will look when he stands, tilts his head, or touches his hat in a certain way.

What?! Is he really the same person whose eyes were blinded by the shininess of his own clothing during his first transformation?? (Mysterious laugh [?])

I conspired with Steel, who was also starting out at the time, to take a photo. So there is such a thing as hiding your own expression… (Laughs).

Including those sorts of fun things, it’s good to have Shoji back on the set, now in a more mentor-ish position and with four years of experience!

And speaking of people happy to have a reliable bodyguard appear, we have this episode’s disturbance, the Granute Chor. Their human form is portrayed by Nanami Kameda, and the voice of their Granute form is Tomoaki Maeno!

Their human form has an elegant femininity, but when they return to their Granute form, they have amazing roughness. Mr. Maeno made a lot of ad-libs in his performance. There will be heated scenes with the human form portrayed by Ms. Kameda in the next episode too, so please look forward to that!

By the way, Chor’s strategy is a simple one where they turn the people who catch their scarf flying away into Human Presses, one-by-one. It’s definitely too slow and dull of a method for Lage9, but Chor feels like this is a reliable method for everyone else, and somehow ends up supporting him (Laughs).

Finally Transform! Kamen Rider Vram

The scene where Lage9 transforms into Vram for the first time. Director Shibasaki insisted on showing him transforming from his Granute appearance in the first transformation.

So this means he…

takes off his black cloak

removes his human disguise and changes to Granute form

equips the belt

and transforms

Taking off clothes and then putting things on? It’s a very elaborate sequence.

Eitoku portrays both his Granute form and Vram, so the stop-change cut (filming actors in the same position before and after transforming) of the transformation was an Eitoku relay. Actually, we’ve already done this plenty of times with Vice (Laughs).

The mask’s field of vision is restricted during the listless transformation pose, so it must be hard to twirl the hair…!

He looks thin in the suits. Chor is peeking out from behind as if to say, “Vram’s here, I don’t need to do anything now”. Their colors match together amazingly. I can’t believe how cool pudding can be… the design already has great strength.

Lage9 already had great physical strength before he transformed into a Kamen Rider, so he gives an incredibly overwhelming fight.

He even surpasses the strong and muscular Gavv…

The staff's full-force debris attack (not actually) even scared them away!

The year has begun, and the two Riders can’t do anything to him.

With Vram’s transformation, the conflict with the Stomach family dramatically changes. Please don’t take your eyes off this in 2025!!

(Written by Minami Takishima)

[japanesedoramaandanimelover91]

Kazunari Ninomiya, who won an award in the Arts and Culture category, made his debut as a member of the popular idol group Arashi and appeared in many popular films and TV series. Even after going independent from the agency he belonged to for many years, he remained active as an actor, entertaining many fans with his "YouTube" videos and writing. We asked Ninomiya-san, who is at the forefront of the Japanese entertainment world, about what he values in his creative endeavours and his future aspirations.

-I often watch the "YouTube" channel that Ninomiya-san created with Yuichi Nakamaru, Ryosuke Yamada and Fuma Kikuchi. This "Yonino Channel" has gained the highest popularity in the entertainment world, and the other day, "All Night Nippon Premium" was also broadcast, where the members act as hosts. Ninomiya-san's passion for entertaining his fans is clearly felt these days.

Ninomiya-Thank you very much. On "YouTube" i want to be able to show you what i really like and how i like it, in its purest form.’

-So Ninomiya-san shows the part where he's genuinely having fun.

Nino-If we don't do that, i don't think the audience will be able to fully enjoy it. The staff suggests different projects, and after we're in full agreement with them, we do what we like. We may cancel projects that look too much like television or seem forced. In this case, i think fans will enjoy it more if we just talk. -Is it because Ninomiya-san built his career that he was able to do this? Or is it because "YouTube" is a place with a lot of freedom? Has the environment changed significantly since you became independent from the agency?

Nino-The environment can be a big factor…. But my mindset hasn't changed much. The desire to share the fun with my fans has always been a prerequisite for any job. We have worked hard to make "Arashi" concerts a time and space that people can still enjoy, whether they are close to the stage or far from it, or even if the blind or hearing impaired come. That's what we did it for. to have fun in the first place. It's ingrained in us. But "YouTube" is a step down from that, and in a good way it's a little bit easier to get into, so maybe that's why people are so favourable to it.

-Watching "YouTube" and entertainment shows on TV, I realised that Ninomiya-san has very good small talk skills. The conversation is very natural and interesting. I think you're very adept at choosing your words, whether it's on "X" (formerly Twitter) or in an essay for a series of magazines.

Nino-is this true? If so, i think my life has been shaped by encountering more words than the average person in film and TV scripts. After receiving the script, when i'm forgiven, i feel like i change the line text as i see fit so that the words can come out and i haven't given it too much thought.’ -This Suits Of The Year was chosen under the theme of "Stimulating the Five Senses," and we chose people who excelled in their fields. Ninomiya-san, you've helped many people in many different fields, including acting, but is there anything you keep in mind while doing your expressive activities or anything you're doing to improve your skills as an artiste?

Nino-Hmm, that's a tough one. If i had to pick one thing, it would be games, even when I'm busy (laughs).

-You like games, don't you? Do you feel rested?

Nino-Instead of trying to change my mood, i want to keep my energy up by playing games. The more i have to work, the more i end up playing "Puzzle and Dragons". I get a lot more ideas that way. It's a strange story, but i have to create a situation where i don't have enough time. In the past, i was always short of time, doing doramas, appearing on entertainment shows, and then going on tour. I really don't mind that kind of busyness. I actually prefer this high rotation speed, so i try to maintain a high rotation speed during games and i feel like I'm already mentally prepared.

-Wouldn't it be a good idea to rest here?

Nino-No. Maybe i'm the kind of person who doesn't need a long rest.

--I feel like the game makes me immerse myself in the world.

Nino-This is a bit contradictory, but the more you immerse yourself in the world of the game, the more you don't have to think about anything. For example, even when I have to memorise lines for a TV drama, i still play games, i can concentrate on a lot of things.

--This feeling is a bit interesting. It would be the best environment for me.

Nino-Right. When words come into your head when you're not thinking about them, it's hard to get rid of them. If you're in a hurry and you're thinking, ‘i have to remember, i have to remember,’ they won't come in at all. Even during meetings, i write them down on the board. Sometimes i come up with better ideas while playing than when i face them face to face. Sometimes i get scolded and ask, "Are you really listening to me?" But that's never a problem for me. Now that i've started working in the entertainment industry myself, i often catch myself thinking, "Wow, this is how things work." For example, when it comes to working in film, so far someone has had to do all the work for me. All i had to do was memorise the script. When i think of the people who have done all this for me, i am truly grateful. I want to work feeling that gratitude. It's good to try new things, but i also want to acknowledge again what i've done, is very important to me right now, and that in itself is a challenge. For example, if i were to start making music again, where would i release my album and how would I do it alone, i think that would be a huge challenge.

-What do you see for the future of "offices"?

Nino-If the company wants to keep going the way it is, i want to attract all kinds of people. I started this company for myself, but i want to help people who share the same thoughts as i do and feel stuck in some way. There is someone, i would be happy to take them on and work with them, whether i can help them or not. I hope some kind of chemical reaction happens between us.

Ninomiya-san has worn a variety of suits due to his job, but he has surprisingly few suits and isn't particularly picky about them. However, it seems like it took him a long time to choose the fabric for this suit from Paul Stewart.

Nino-I wanted to use a fabric that could be worn in a variety of situations and that would fit well on the body. This suit was recommended to me in the shop and I liked it because when I saw it, it had a soft texture. I tried it on and it was just as comfortable as I expected. I think suits are worn when you want to look fresh, but the feel of this fabric allows you to relax and act casual, I felt that way.

The colour pattern with light grey base and wide stripes is also new to him.

Nino-Was a type of fabric with a narrower pitch of stripes, but I thought this one gave a softer impression. The tailoring is very lightweight and I think it will make people I meet feel more relaxed, as I heard from the stylist. I said earlier that this suit looks good with knitwear, but I'd like to try wearing it a bit more fun.

Paul Stewart in a tailored suit.

A bespoke tailored suit based on the Baker model, which is a relatively new model amongst the brand. The very soft-textured flannel fabric is made by the prestigious Italian company Vitale Barberis Canonico. It has a light grey base with a touch of green and slightly wide stripes. The trousers have a neatly tapered silhouette. A single fit is included to create a moderate amount of space around the waist. Combined with the laid-back vibe of the lightweight, shoulderless jacket, it feels like a go-to suit for going out to work.

Kazunari Ninomiya was born in 1983, in Tokyo. He is a member of the male idol group ‘Arashi’ and is active in various fields including acting, voice actor, TV host and blogger. He made his Hollywood debut in the 2006 film "Letters from Iwojima". He won the 39th "Japan Academy Award for Best Actor" for the 2015 film Kurashiba and His Mother and the sixty-fifth "Blue Ribbon Award" for "Best Actor" for "From Camp with Love", released in 2022. Declared independence in October 2023 and established the Office ni no.

Interviewer: Kazuka Matsumoto, Editor-in-Chief of NIKKEI Magazine, Composition: Iwao Yoshida, Photo: Yoshiaki Tsutsui.

[storkmuffin]

The Magic of San (5/n)

Marilyn Monroe Sidebar 3/4

My longform essay series on the many similarities between Marilyn Monroe and Choi San of Ateez, the 4th Gen Kpop Boyband. You can find part 1 of the Marilyn Sidebar here, and part 2 is here.

Performance Intelligence I have a weird prejudice, perhaps, in favor of the native intelligence of performing artists. I just don't see how someone who is stupid could actually craft a performance in something as complicated as film acting or a song-and-dance show together.

Consider the above images and the skills involved. Marilyn's expressions, the use of her eyes, where she chooses to look, the hands, the shoulders, and knowing where to stand in the light and in relation to the camera - and on cue! SO HARD. San had to do the same thing - find the camera at the right time, stop moving, know where to stand in relation to his camera, what angle to turn his neck so that it shows his face best and casts the least amount of shadow from the lensed glasses he's wearing!

The actresses who worked with Marilyn Monroe, especially young Marilyn, have been very consistent in talking about how good she was at her job. She always knew exactly where 'her light' was, she also knew exactly how she would come off on camera (rather than how it looked in the moment on set, I suppose), knew the choreography and always knew exactly what she was going to do. She was moreover so effortless in all this that it made these female coworkers actually wonder, Does she know how this is coming off? This has to be deliberate, right? But why does it look so natural? Men (Lawrence Olivier, for one) reacted with rage at her competence, by the way. That she was effervescent and exciting in the final film in a way that 'superior' actors could not match.

San is spectacular at combining facial expressions with his physical dance movements. The concentration that it must take to make the perfect expression - whether one of punch drunk excitement, sneery sexiness, stern disapproval, I'm dangerous and might bite - in between very athletic dance movement? Spectacular. He makes the most of every costume he's given, too, and he's especially good at working with head-prosp: hats, glasses, bruises.

And without being very loud about it, San seems to consistently want to branch out into a 'creator.' I recently learned that he has contributed choreography to Work. Ice On My Teeth behind the scenes showed that one of the majorly distinctive vocal parts of that song, where each singer appears with a low, 'uhh' that sets the mood, was a San idea. I like these snippets but I find this level of contribution much more believable from a young person who was mostly trained to be a performer, than the whole "so and so wrote the whole song" or they are "entirely self produced" types of ad lines they have been pushing since the 3rd or so generation of kpop, when the credit list for each song in kpop usually has like nine people, most of them Swedes. Nobody yelled at Whitney Houston or Pavarotti for not writing the songs they performed, so I think Kpop having to insist on 'they are authors' is a reaction to the racism that originally caused kpop to be so summarily dismissed. In short - he's a growth stock, and I have high hoptes.

[rant begins] By the way!! If you actually watch Marilyn's movies, her characters are actually never stupid. They just aren't. They're often very clever and strategic - they just aren't invested in looking smart which is a very different thing. Marilyn getting increasingly frustrated, and then, in her final years, enraged about the 'dumb'ness continually attributed to her and her characters is very understandable. What Marilyn's characters actually are is good. They're ethical. They don't imagine that other people constantly want to sexually molest them, or don't see them as fully people and actively hope they are assaultable without consequence just because of how pretty their face and body are. And her characters are often surrounded by men who do and think exactly this, and get annoyed, then aggressive, when she refuses their advances. But Marilyn's characters are NOT STUPID. [end of rant]

Blunt, Direct Humor.

While Marilyn and San both share the image of being guileless, as I've said, and even potentially a little bit lacking in the sophistication department in the initial years of their career and such, they're both given to being very funny in a really blunt, almost rude, way.

The key quote here from Marilyn Monroe is when Playboy magazine (and Hugh Hefner, that motherfucker) made his debut as a pornographer by publishing Monroe's nude photo (without her consent NOR paying her) Marilyn was subjected to what sounds like a series of infuriating interviews where she had to explain herself in order to save her own career.

The tightrope that the young Marilyn Monroe had to walk sounds exactly the same as the one that members of the Kpop star system try to stay perched on. She was supposed to be fascinating, sexy, beautiful, give off the air of being sexually available and down for a good time, but being shown to be an actually sexual person or performing 'too much' sexuality in the 'wrong way' could end everything. Being of the 'wrong' sexuality also would have had the same effect.*

*In recent years, there's been speculation that Marilyn was asexual (either innately or as a reaction to all the sexual aggression she endured) or potentially bisexual (in her relationship with her acting coach).

Creating a playbook that Madonna Ciccone would use decades later, Marilyn Monroe chose to go with a bold, Yeah I did It, So What? approach. One lady interviewer (I'm using the word lady very intentionally) in particular had the gall to ask her, about nude photos made famous by a porno mag, "Do you mean you had nothing on!?" To this, Marilyn answered, "Oh! I had the radio on!" Perfect fucking answer, and SO FUNNY.

When Marilyn was trying to go for a role in a serious movie (The Brother Karamazov), she went on a sort of PR campaign to lobby for the role, including reading the book in public. It's a bloody thick book, that one (and kind of tedious to read because the women in it are so awful, like OK Fyodor, you don't like us, I get it), so she had it out for a press conference held at her (and I think Arthur Miller's?) house. A male reporter asked her, nastily, "Have you actually read that book?" Marilyn's answer was to take a breath, blink, smile, and say, sweetly, "Have you?" (He couldn't answer in the affirmative).

San exhibits similar humor that I think doesn't always translate because it's so culturally Korean, even when he's saying it in English. And obviously, the examples I'm citing are nowhere During a recent (Feb 2025?) Live, a fan asked him, "What's the secret to your beauty?" (He read it out in Korean, 잘생김의 비결요?") His answer, seriously-faced, was "My dermatologist." (피부과요!) I had to snort at that one. Terrific answer.

Regardless of what's actually happening in his personal life, San has exhibited some distress at both the BL shipping and drawing erotic attention from men while in public interactions with fans or for content But he does it in a way that's actually very funny - cuttingly so. When a European Atiny told him that San was her boyfriend's ult/ bias, he looked taken aback, and then said, in English, "Sorry, Bro!" that got the whole sing-song nuance of that particular Amercanism down pat. A second European Atiny told him the same, some weeks later, and he varied his answer, giving a very solemn, "Thank you, Sir." See? FUNNY.

San exhibits a lot of the traits of a traditionally raised Confucian boy, and one of them is to be very conscious of his own age. He is now, 25 (turns 26 in July). He seems to attribute a lot of meaning to this particular age. When San feels like the fans on Lives are babying him or infantilizing him too much, he immediately brings up the fact that he's 25 going on 26 as a rebuttal. But he does it in this down-energy monotone way, using a reedy Seoul voice, almost seeming sleepily bored as he issues his comebacks. And at one of those post-concert meet and greets, a fan handed him the little plushie animal mascot that each of the Ateez members has, and asked, "Is this you?" His answer was, "This is not me. I'm his father." A really blunt sort of conversation ender, but in the moment it was funny because it was unexpected, and delivered with a star's charm.

[maddiemuu]

1, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19 & 20 for ruth and/or nicole?

WAOWWW THAT'S SO MANY... THANK YOU!! i am gonna put them under a cut so i don't absolutely obliterate the dashboard of the ppl who follow me LOL

here is the ask game!

ruth

aaa ok so ruth hasn't actually existed in her current form for super long... she was definitely more nebulous to me than nicole for a long time. so there r sort of two answers to this. initially, ruth didn't exist at all in nicole's story- nicole was much less isolated there, and actually interacted with the rest of the town and her parents on "screen" (aka. in the stories i told myself with her in my head). initially, it was just about her going home and finding that the people there had established some weird and sort of fucked up new religion. but from there i decided they should be worshipping SOMETHING and so i came up with ruth! she was always nicole's childhood friend/crush/whatever/nightmare situationship but originally the ruth in the story WAS the same person as said friend. eventually i just decided it would be more interesting if she was something Different. i like stories about locations that just seem to have had something Wrong with them from the very start- stuff like the land the house (house) on ash tree lane is built on in house of leaves or the town in uzumaki. ruth is sort of like if that concept was a fully sentient, distinct being.

3. appearance but like. ruth 1.0's appearance. i omitted her face for thematic + tonal purposes and from there i just eventually made a design that didn't have one at all! ruth CAN have a face but i don't think i could draw it as scary as it is in my head LOL. so i only ever draw it in parts. the best way i can describe the way i think of it is like. you know how some stop motion doll faces ALMOST look like people if they're made in the right style and have the right lighting?? (what i'm specifically thinking of is like. the stop motion from The Cat With Hands, which is a very good and scary short horror film if you haven't already seen it). she looks sort of like that. she doesn't like to have a face anyways, because nicole doesn't remember ruth 1.0's face well enough. whenever ruth tries to have her face, no matter how good it looks, nicole can tell the details are wrong, but not WHY, so ruth can't fix it. it makes her really mad.

7. i like her weird drippy "face"! and also when i draw her big scary eyes. a lot of it is just aesthetic- i really like drawing things that are dripping, and the eye shapes are super fun to draw.

8. a lot of it was created as a direct response to nicole's personality! i wanted a solid foil for her. more than anything, ruth is much more assertive than nicole- even to an extent that can be considered cruel. she's easy to frustrate and lashes out just as easily. i wouldn't say i'm super similar to either ruth or nicole, but they both have personalities stemming from qualities of mine. i think on the ruth-nicole spectrum, i'm more of a ruth, though.

11. hmm! i think junji ito's character tomie is similar in some ways. not intentional, though i did read junji ito's work with the voraciousness of someone who had trapped inside a cave with no entertainment for months, so tomie's probably in the inspiration soup somewhere. rose quartz from steven universe too now that i think about it. her line about not being able to act like a "real person" because she /isn't one/ has really stuck with me since that episode first aired. that sort of sentiment is definitely a big part of ruth. uhhh what else... the moopies from the phoenix by osamu tezuka!!! especially tamami from the "future" volume of the series. this idea of an inhuman alien CHOOSING to look like a human being and it becoming so fundamental to her identity... that's more of an intentional influence. also. as much as i loathe to admit it. pon-chan from guru guru pon chan. a truly haunting (to me) shoujo romance manga about a dog who has a magic slash incredibly technologically advanced bone charm that can transform her into a human girl! but she still has a dog brain! she is still a dog!!! the manga never lets you forget this! i think a lot of the darker implications of her character were unintentional, but people also still TREAT her like a dog for the most part. she is simultaneously forced into human society and sheltered from it, leaving her in a really tragic limbo where she's barred from full autonomy and full personhood, even. i am sincerely compelled by her, for better or for worse. ALSO. quick lightning round: hal 9000 (2001: a space odyssey), the house from anatomy by kitty horrorshow, both hill house and theodora from the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson (one of my very favorite books!), the thing from the thing, and the cenobites from hellraiser/the hellbound heart by clive barker

12. i DO have a playlist! you can find it here! (cw for the first song, "holy" by the golden palominos- the song describes a character with disordered eating patterns in some significant detail). i'll also list a few extra songs that AREN'T on the playlist for one reason or another:

-i got heaven by mannequin pussy (close, but not quiiiite the vibe. still! close!)

-yeah yeah by cyndi lauper

-sat in your lap by kate bush

-once i flew by white town

-woodpecker no. 1 by merzbow (this one is very loud. it is noise music and sounds like very loud, discordant static and screeching noises, in case anyone reading this is not familiar with merzbow. please be extra cautious if you are wearing headphones. i find his work to be pretty soothing but i'm sure it makes a lot of other people feel very tense. also, warning for eyestrain with the album cover.)

-last lion of albion by neko case

13. sssort of...? not the kind of thing i could link a 1:1 video for unfortunately. there are two ideas i think of for her voice. one is when my laptop speakers get sort of muffled/blocked somehow, and it creates a weird echo-ish effect to the voice of whatever youtuber i'm watching at the time. the other is... once again, from the thing! hooray for the thing! i love the way the thing screams (youtube link), where you can hear all the different layers to what it's assimilated into itself over all the time it's existed... eughh..... it rules. anyways, ruth has a weird sort of crackle/echo/scratchiness to her voice normally- it's sort of uncomfortable to hear. makes you feel like some hair or something is stuck in your ear... but nope! when she gets really upset her voice unravels and you can hear similar "layers" to it like the thing's screaming. it gets harder for her to enunciate like that, too.

14. aaahh, well from other media i already mentioned rose quartz steven universe's "i'm... not a real person". this also isn't something you can read for free unfortunately, but the artist DID post these panels publicly so i feel ok quoting it lol. in a recent page of cheap thrills (original comic here, patreon continuation here, posted-for-free remake/reimagining here. be aware that all of those contain significant themes of drug use/addiction and parental abuse. cheap thrills also contains explicit nudity/sexual content and depictions of suicidal ideation. rigsby wi contains sexually suggestive content) by se case, one character asks another "do you know what i would GIVE to be LOVED like YOU" and it's been on my mind a lot... wrt quotes BY ruth, one thing i come back to a lot with her is the sentiment that if nicole doesn't like her she should just "make something else"- which is a mockery of her. nicole won't make something else of ruth. ever. why would she? there's also her idea that anything she sees as wrong with her is NICOLE'S fault for not even being able to remember "her" well enough. she's mean lol!!!

17. stars and botanical imagery- especially roots and various flowers! i've drawn her with wasps before and would like to do that more often, too.

19. oooh this is an interesting one. i like the vagueness of what "favorite" and "least favorite" mean in this context. i will do my best to give the most well-rounded answers i can lol. i think in terms of like. personality. as in "what would i like or dislike about her if she was real" ruth is a very outwardly resilient and confident person which i think is admirable! on the flip side, she is an asshole. from the perspective of me being her creator, i like drawing her "weirder" designs- i actually feel a little insecure about her "main" look sometimes. i find it annoying when the weirdest thing a story wants to come up with for a woman's design is just "woman with a few inhuman features", but on the other hand- i know that i CAN design more interesting/inhuman things, i just legitimately think that's how ruth would choose to look lol. she wants to be a human! like one very specific human!

20. haha! this one's fun. i unfortunately don't think i have any art to show off here... i post the majority of things i draw. WAIT actually i can show off some very early ruth pics. i think these were the first two things i ever drew of ruth (1.0...) i believe they're from 2021 (left) and 2022 (right). one on the left was drawn with my motherfuckingggg laptop trackpad i think. evil. why would i ever do that.

i will also say that i wanna draw something with ruth's fucked up anatomy soon!!! i made a post abt it and i wanna show off what that looks like...

nicole

nicole has existed since 2021 (according to the first piece i drew of her). iirc her design came from a limited palette challenge i was playing with and i ended up liking what i was coming up with so much i decided to keep her. it was sort of like finding some sad, sopping wet little animal under a car. story-wise her Character Bones come from my deep love of folk horror. i just wanted to make my own folk horror character!

3. appearance! i wanted to draw a character with long, wavy hair lol. she's also always sorta been the protagonist, just by virtue of being the character i came up with first re: her story. her name was also pretty immediate- i just really love the name "nicole" and wanted to give it to a character. naming ruth was a lot harder, actually- i usually choose names for their sound more than anything, but hers is actually one i chose based on meaning. nicole's personality actually developed last, and has changed the most out of those three things. she used to be much more put together. she had a decently successful career too... which. lol. lmao. no. nowadays i think that before she moved back home she was something like a receptionist or executive assistant somewhere but was too nervous + disorganized to be very good at it. very quiet and sort of off putting to her coworkers. also this image was another one done with my TRACKPADDD. WHY. WHY. WHY DID I EVER DO THAT. my hand hurts just thinking about it!!!! i swear it is an actual bible-level miracle i have never had tendonitis or carpal tunnel.

7. her weak chin and big arms are both v defining parts of her design to me... but she actually didn't have either at the start!! her face shape developed by the 4th-5th piece i drew of her (according to my computer lol)... something about it just felt much more like her, plus i liked how distinctive it was next to my other designs. her larger upper arms developed slower- i shifted her design to being fat pretty quickly, but she used to be more "proportional" for lack of a better term. i ended up shifting to making her more top-heavy over time, partially just for the sake of interesting design elements, and partially because i used to be similarly top-heavy. nicole's breast hypertrophy is a feature she inhereted directly from me lol. i also just don't think enough characters have really prominent upper arm fat! it's a cute feature and i really enjoy drawing it.

8. nicole is inspired a lot by traits i personally find very annoying LOL. mostly in others. i wanted to try and find a way to undestand/better sympathize with why people act like her... i can't really speak to how successful she's been in that regard, since i AM still ultimately limited by my own perception, but it's been interesting!! nicole is a selfish person in some very specific, self-infantilizing, victimizing ways, especially. i think in some ways she also probably reflects traits i fear seeing in myself- or traits i fear others seeing in me.

11. visually? uh. griffith from berserk sort of. curse of white person w/ long wavy hair.

in terms of personality/inspiration, there's a fair bit of eleanor from the haunting of hill house (book) in there. her and merricat from we have always lived in the castle are DEFINITELY big influences for nicole. there's also tonta from jaime hernandez's side of love and rockets. los bros hernandez are two of my biggest artistic inspirations... i find her such a fun character, and i love the way her design is rendered. i also read monster pulse by magnolia porter sidell when i was really getting into developing nicole, and i think the character of dr. lulenski definitely had an impact! lulenski's squeamishness and tendency to rationalize her own negative actions to herself especially strike me as influential here. there's also some sally hardesty in her for sure- visually, especially! nicole was definitely inspired somewhat by the archetype of the final girl in slashers, especially my fascination with the misogyny i think is sort of inherent to it. to give one more just to even out these pictures, the character of riley from em carroll's comics the hole the fox did make and the groom. both fantastic short horror stories. riley is a child, but the mood and setting of both stories definitely had an influence on nicole- especially the sense of dread and inevitability i always feel reading both.

12. i DO have a nicole playlist! here it is! and here are some extra songs like i did for ruth :3:

-god take all by glass eye

-bracing for sunday by neko case (another song where the vibes are simply not quite there. but this song is still in nicole's dna. i think if anyone it's a ruth 1.0 song tbh.)

-the river by bruce springsteen (specifically this live version LOL. this is not a nicole song narratively speaking. but in terms of vibes yes. i also imagine her parents' circumstances were somewhere along these lines)

-good for me by aimee mann

-st james infirmary by abner jay

-i was a child by elysium

13. i don't have a specific person in mind who i think sounds like her, but i can describe how i imagine her voice! nicole has a slightly scratchy voice, and she tends to intentionally speak in a higher register than what's natural. aside from the scratchiness, her voice is pretty soft most of the time. she has a southern accent and the strength of it fluctuates a little depending on the situation.

14. hmmm.... do i?! i'll have to think on this one for a second. oh, wait- yeah, for sure. "why don't they stop me?" from the haunting of hill house- this will probably only hit if you've also read the book, unfortunately, but MAN it is such a suckerpunch of a line. it's also the only one coming to mind for me right now LOL. there aren't a lot of specific phrases/lines of nicole's that really stick with me as quintessentially HER, at least not yet.

17. yes!!! lots of flowers- especially sunflowers and daisies, cornstalks, mountains, smoke, and telephone poles, mostly.

19. as a person, i think nicole really does try to be kind, for the most part, just for the sake of it. in terms of negative traits- i would find it incredibly frustrating how averse she is to owning up to wrongdoing LOL. as a character, i'm sincerely really proud of her design. i love how she looks. i guess in terms of least favorite there...? i'd like to get better at drawing her side profile ig. sometimes i really like how i render it and sometimes not as much. that's more of a me problem than a her problem, though.

20. hmmm...! well, i'm almost to 100 (digital) drawings of nicole (🎉). i wanna redraw the first thing i ever made of her for the 100th piece. i've also been thinking about maybe doing a longer series of interconnected illustrations with her sometime soon... i think that could be really fun!!

[emeritus-fuckers]

Hii

It's me again ✨

Could you write something about staying in bed and watching movies on a super cold rainy day with the papas(not just old nihil for once😂)? It's cold af today and my anemic self is suffering 🫠 and being delusional is helping yk💅🏽

The moment I saw your request, I immediately thought of Nihil. This one's short because I'm sick - Jez

Rainy days in bed with the Papas

Primo

He's not too much of a movie fan, to be honest. Manages to fall asleep during the darkest, goriest scenes purely because they don't really catch his focus.

He enjoys very few movies. His favorite is Les Miserables. Mainly because it's entirely sung.

He walks around and hums the songs later while working.

Prefers to read or solve crossword puzzles or sudoku and stuff like that. He enjoys reading to you or when you read to him.

Might bake with you if you ask nicely.

Will drape his robes over you if you're cold. And wrap you in a blanket.

Multiple blankets.

Makes you many hot herbal teas.

Acts more like a dad than lover on days like these.

Secondo

Gets a fucking headache. Cures it with whisky.

He might be a bit grumpier than usual, he's not a fan of weather like this.

Cuddle the old man, he needs it.

If you two decide to watch movies, he's gonna be really fucking picky about the movie.

He won't tell you what he wants, it's just a matter of you listing titles and him saying no to every single one of them until you finally find something he's willing to watch.

He probably picked something completely stupid, but absolutely not admit the movie is shit.

The movie totally was shit.

Terzo

Bro's gonna take it personally if you decide watching movies is more important than he is.

It's a rainy day, one of the very few days he gets to only pretend to work instead of actually working!

And you wanna watch a movie instead of doing other fun things? Really?

Don't get me wrong, he's fucking soft for you, he'll give in.

Will do some light groping from time to time as you cuddle.

If you tell him to stop or that you're uncomfortable with it, he stops and apologizes. He's pervy, yeah, but he's not a fucking creep.

Lots of kisses and hugs! He's touch starved!

Copia

Copia loves movies! He's got a full collection of his favorites waiting for days like that, just so he can cuddle with you and watch them.

The only one actually focused on the damn movies.

And the only way to distract him is to start touching him.

It's like a little game for you, how much he'll squirm and try to focus on the movie until he gives up watching and gives in to you.

Might get pouty afterwards of he really liked the movie.

Loves to play video games with you on days like these. And he has a perfect excuse, too! What else are you guys supposed to do, after all?

Unlike someone (ekhem, Terzo, ekhem), he's fucking sane about it.

Old Nihil

Only picks ancient movies from his youth that no sane person ever heard of.

And it's the most ridiculous movie ever, something that would totally get cancelled for being offensive nowadays.

If you tell him you don't like it, he might give you some shit about you not appreciating good movies.

Make a cute pouty face at him and his opinion changes completely.

In the end, he lets you pick the movie. Spends the entire time staring at you, dreamingly unless he's startled by a loud noise from the film.

Forgets about the noise within three seconds, goes back to staring at you. Fucking simp.

(The day I don't call Nihil a simp is the day I die)

Young Nihil

Kinda like Terzo, not interested in movies in the slightest.

Way more of an attention whore, though.

Literally whines about you liking a movie more than him.

And he whines like... A lot.

Enough to give up to movie idea completely.

He's gonna have a shit eating grin on his face when he "wins" your little argument.

And he will win. Kinda.

You get upset with him and don't talk to him for a few hours until he makes a joke that he actually kinda likes it.

Smack him and he's gonna laugh, claiming he knew that would get a reaction and that it was planned.

It was not planned, he's just a jackass who doesn't think before opening his mouth.

[marcelllyn]

Again

After a long time I decided to come back, I admit I was finding my writing garbage. But anyway, I hope the few people who read this enjoy it. And also look forward to fanfics about my passion of the month, Captain America.

Part 1

Synopsis: A failed actress who is actually a professional hunter joins the Winchesters to solve a vampire case. But Dean, her ex, still has unhappy feelings for her.

Warnings: English is not my first language, imminent failure, and lots of cuteness.

It was a terrible idea to be on the street at that time, sitting on a suitcase in a dark alley, shedding tears of failure and resentment. Hollywood star. She was more like a Hollywood loser.

After another failed test, no money to rent a dirty motel room. My mother's harsh, harsh voice repeated in my head: "You will fail, you will fail, because this is not what you were born to do." Hunting, that's what I was born to do, at least that's what my parents thought.

With each failed test, these words spread more and more throughout my being, like blood running through my veins. Maybe I really was born to be a great hunter.

My melancholy was short-lived when I heard male voices approaching. I might not be afraid of demons or ghosts, but I was afraid of men at night. I raised my hand to pick up a piece of wood lying on the ground. The two men were arguing and ended up stopping at the edge of the alley, the dim light barely illuminating their faces.

— Dean, it's Dad's fault that girl got hurt! — The taller one said irritably. — How many times do I have to say that this obsession is unhealthy and hurts people?

— It's not intentional, Sammy! — The other said, running his hand across his forehead. — And that's no reason to yell at him like that and… I was standing, holding a piece of wood threateningly, but upon hearing Sammy's nickname, I lowered the bat.

— Winchesters? — I asked, still in a tearful voice.

The two of them furrowed their eyebrows and said together:

— Do we know you?

I walked a little closer, with a sweet smile on my face.

— It's a wonder they don't remember me. — He laughed softly. — Y/N Graham. It's been long years since John took you to my parents' house.

Dean raised his eyebrows as if his vague memory had returned.

— No kidding! — Dean said excitedly. — I thought I would never see you again, your parents said you became aimless or something the last time I went to visit them.

Aimless… very dignified.

— Actress, I became an actress. — I corrected him. — Sam, how you've grown!

Sam was a lot smaller when I was seventeen, and then suddenly he was taller than Dean. This made me feel old age knocking on the door.

— And you're still the same height. — Mess up my hair. I laughed and watched the two of them, Dean's nose was a little purple and Sam's face was bruised and melancholic.

— Still hunting?

— That wouldn't be new, it's just…

Family. — I added. — A very dangerous family thing. — I pointed to his nose. A minute silence remained between us.

— Actress, then? — Sam asked. — What kind of films do you make?

— I hope it's not the kind of movie I watch. Dean laughed.

— Until now, I've only acted in commercials and other small things. And unfortunately for you, Dean, no adult films. The three of us laughed together. A strange but familiar heat filled my body. And for a few seconds, it was Dean and I as teenagers and Sam, a pre-teen, sitting on the couch laughing like idiots.

—And what are you doing in a dark alley? Sammy asked.

— I'm having trouble finding a hotel. — I left out the part where I didn't have a dollar in my pocket.

Dean fake coughed, I always hated how he could read me like a book.

— You can stay the night in our hotel room. - He offered, picking up the bags that were on the floor. — As long as you need, the only detail… — He put his bags in the car. — John is there.

I rolled my eyes. But I couldn't do without a good room.

— For one night, I can bear it. — I laughed, sitting in the back seat.

I hope so. He's not in the best of moods, and it's enough of Sam being grumpy. — Dean got into the car, sitting in the driver's seat. — He and Dad are fighting all the time, I think I'm going crazy. Sam entered soon after. I noticed how silent he was, sadly silent. I deduced that it was John's fault, he was terrible, he always was.

— Did you finish talking, daddy? How old are you? Twelve? — I scoffed.

— Shut up, or I'll leave you on the street. — He pinched my nose. As if it were muscle memory.

The journey listening to Bon Jovi was calming, having my friends by my side again was an incredible thing, having Dean by my side was an incredible thing. He was always one of those boyfriends you never forget, the kind you'd tell your kids about when you were getting divorced. He was incredible, beautiful and had eyes… His green eyes were so beautiful they hurt.

— We’re here! — Dean said, parking and quickly getting out of the car. Sam remained silent.

— Sammy, I like how your hair looks, it’s stylish. — I poked him in a way to alleviate whatever it was.

— Only Dean calls me Sammy. — Those were his last words before getting out of the car.

I got out of the car, cradling myself between the seat that Sam — Damn two-door car — Sam was standing there looking at the sky, while the other one took the bags out of the car.

— How do you make money on hunts? — I asked curiously, since that motel didn't seem half-baked.

— You don't want to know.

— Gambling, right? — I laughed, approaching Dean and taking a small suitcase.

Dean laughed, carrying the heavier bags inside. And wow, how sexy he looked carrying those heavy suitcases. I walked up behind him, almost letting out a whistle. I entered the messy motel room, full of packages and clothes on the floor, typical of Dean, but lying on one of the beds was John reading a book.

— Home sweet home. - He put the bags in a corner. — Don't run out of hot water and don't you dare touch my suitcase.

— Why is there some rotten secret there? — She said provocatively close to his ear.

— We have a visitor. — John sat down.

— She's James Graham's daughter, you know that friend of yours who was always offering me champagne? — He takes some clothes off the other bed. — And she's my ex-girlfriend.

— I remember her, she was the one who broke my nose. — John said unsympathetically. — And he tried to convince Sam to leave the hunt.

—Things of the past. — She laughed embarrassedly. — I won't stay for long.

— I hope not, we have an important case and you are a distraction.

I took a deep breath.

-Are you hungry? — Dean took my arm almost like a plea. — There's a snack bar nearby.

— I'm not hungry, thank you. — I sat on the bed. — What case? Is it a vampire? Like Edward from Twilight? — He said, moving some discarded papers.

— Vampires aren't like Twilight's Edward. — Dean laughed, looking for something in the drawers. — But yes, it's a vampire case.

I stuck my tongue out at him. Deep down, the request to eat far away and be able to talk to him alone didn't seem so bad.

— You know what, I think I'm hungry. — I got up, heading towards the door.

Walking past the door, Sam was still outside, sitting on the hood of the car with his sad puppy face.

-Hey, Sam, go keep an eye on Dad. I'll take this lady out to eat. — Dean said, getting into the car.

Sam seemed to understand that it wasn't just a late-night snack. Even though Sam was my favorite, Dean was my ex-boyfriend.

— Of course, and don't come back late. — He replied somewhat apathetically.I got in the car, Dean started it and headed towards the most rotten cafeteria you could have, greasy tables, full trash cans, dead cockroaches in the corners, it was almost offensive to take someone to eat in that place.

— I could never get used to eating in a place like this. — I sat at the table, less filthy. — We have no danger of being attacked by vampires here. We have?

— Are you with Dean Winchester and are you scared of some vampires? — He laughed sarcastically. — Actress, then?

-Actress. — I let out a short, sad laugh. — You would make a good firefighter.

— Maybe when I'm around 48 or 50 years old. — Laughs. — You know you can't lie to me.

— I didn't lie when I said you could be a good firefighter. Maybe those who attend bachelor parties. — The waitress, a lady with greasy blond hair and poorly done makeup and a surly face, stopped at our table. — I want a chocolate milkshake and waffles.

— A coffee and a burger, please. — He completed and then she went to the kitchen. — She's sad, depressed. I can see it on your face, and Sam and I just didn't want to be rude when we saw that you were probably going to be sleeping on the street tonight.

— It's just a difficult time.

— It's been difficult since the beginning, then? — He arched an eyebrow. — Look, anyone born a hunter is unhappy in any profession. You are a great hunter.

— I was great. And also, who is running around at risk of death and practically not having a life? — I snorted. — I want to get married, I want to have children. Without the worry of having vampires running around or a spirit.

Dean laughed softly and said:

— That's true, but have you ever thought that maybe you're not a good actress?

— Dean… — I rolled my eyes. — Obviously already, and every day that seems more true.

— Remember when we were seventeen, you said you wanted to be a chef in a five-star restaurant. — His gaze was loving. — You can be anything you want, like Barbie says.

I laughed loudly, scaring the drunks, widowers, and people sleeping at the tables.

— Dean, I appreciate your advice.

— It's ten dollars. — Poke me. — You can stay with us as long as we stay here.

— I don't know if I can stand so much time with your father.

— To be quite honest, neither do I. And another question, don't you have a boyfriend?

— What a personal question. — I put my hand on my chin. — But no, Dean, I don't have a boyfriend and I don't want one.

— That's good, no chance of someone suddenly wanting to show up and punch me. — His characteristic smile could make any heart melt, even more than Sam's puppy dog ​​eyes.

— I do this because I don't have a boyfriend.

— I doubt it, you must be all rusty. — He provoked. — You know, because you don't give hunting another chance. I propose we resolve this case and, if you don't like it, you go back to being an actress and, if you like it, you spend a little more time with my beautiful company.

— The Impala will be crowded.

[logically-asexual]

im terribly bored and not doing well so im scraping the bottom of the barrel for entertainment which means i am watching the incorrect quotes video.

trying to be objective i think they’re fine, i think i don’t find them as funny mostly because ive seen them many times so i know the punchlines, which isn’t their fault. with the ones i do not know the punchline i do smile a bit. and for like half of those i do think “oh yeah this is something they would say”

anyways that’s a lukewarm take not worthy of writing a whole post about, im actually here to complain because ive been listening to the magnus archives (literally just finished the third episode of season 5 before watching this) and that quote about the cows i just :/

i don’t know if the problem lies in thomas’ execution or in the concept of incorrect quotes or in the choice of the quote by the fan or anywhere else but i’m upset.

i do like incorrect quotes, they can be funny and they’re not always the destroyer of literary comprehension some people make them out to be. like anything from fandom, it’s not great if you only see the characters through that lens and people will reduce characters to overused tropes and will project stuff that isn’t even close to canon on them but the fault of that is, i think, mostly on the people doing it and not in the concept of incorrect quotes or shipping or headcanons or whatever. incorrect quotes can be fun and can suck just like anything else. i mean they’re not the same a shipping because at least with that the purpose sometimes is to enrich the story or the understanding of the characters while quotes are just there to be fun. but i think it’s fine to have something that’s just for fun.

the problem is that to do them smartly you have to be careful, because taking something from one work to the other might not be as easy. many times the joke relies on pre-established stuff like character traits or relationships or world building which you didn’t really notice when seeing/listening to it in its original source until you picture it with new characters. it has happened to me that i think i can make something into an incorrect quote and then realize that it just doesn’t work. and some people do not notice this or think that it’s fine cause they assume the person reading the quote will know the original source and will be able to make the relevant associations.

and then add the layer of translating a quote from media like tv or film or audio into writing, (which often causes some quotes to be bad because the original relied on visual context or the delivery, the timing, the sound effects, etc), and then on top of it all we have thomas only seeing the quote written down and interpreting it back into acting.

he did a good job i think in the first incorrect quotes video because his performance added to the quote. it was funnier with his voice and acting than written down. i assume he doesn’t go watch/listen to the source of the quote before interpreting it, and im not sure that’s really a necessary thing, but that disconnect can definitely make the final result even messy sometimes. when it’s quotes from like brooklyn 99 and parks and rec and such it’s mostly fine because they’re short dialogues made to be comedic by themselves and that’s what this type of show is absolutely full of. but with other things, especially works from other genres you gotta be careful.

anyway that’s all to say that “obviously i’ll tell you if i see any good cows” means so much to me and carries this… emotional weight due to its context.. and you just can’t slap any random character names on it and call it a day. at least that’s what i think.

it’s not just about the cute idea of “seeing good cows”, its the love in that quote that is so. subtle and rare and unlikely within the terrible circumstances the characters are in. the domesticity and fondness is a soft sliver of comfort after the previous episode and before that big ending of season 4. it’s lovely and sweet and domestic while enveloped by previous, present and future loss and pain.

it’s NOT a character who is being treated as some kind of himbo telling another character (with huge arm gestures) “yes OBVIOUSLY i’ll tell you if i SEE any Good Cows 🙄🙄🙄 pssht”

it’s not about the cows 😭 does that make sense? 😭

[championoftheoppressed]

Arrowverse Review - Year 4 (2015-2016)

I figure no one reads these, but I enjoy writing them, so here I am. I have finished another year of the Arrowverse! With a whole lot more going on this time.

This post will cover:

Vixen - Season 1

Arrow - Season 4

The Flash - Season 2

Crossover Event - Heroes Join Forces

Legends of Tomorrow - Season 1

Supergirl - Season 1

I also briefly hopped back to try out Constantine, since he showed up on Arrow with very little context. But that series turned out to be very much not my thing. I'm not into horror or spooky supernatural, so this did not appeal. I tapped out five episodes in. But I got the impression none of the plot points were really relevant to the wider Arrowverse, so I feel fine doing that.

Vixen - Season 1

If your first question is, "Wait... what the hell is Vixen?" I can't really blame you. This is an animated web series featuring Mari McCabe, AKA Vixen, as she discovers her magical powers to channel the abilities of animals and uses them to become a superhero. Mari does later feature in an episode of Arrow, that would probably not make any sense if you didn't watch this.

Anyway, this is fine. Mari herself seems pretty cool, her powers are interesting enough -- and definitely lend themselves better to animation than live-action -- and this is a solid introduction to her as a character.

Unfortunately, the Arrowverse elements are the weakest part of the story. Barry and Oliver are very shoehorned into the story, and mess with the pacing big-time. Frankly, this would have been stronger as a standalone series. Also, as a short film instead of six mini episodes.

Arrow - Season 4

This season is... eh? It's definitely better than Season 3. But I think the show just has fundamental flaws that aren't ever going to be addressed. All the characters feel same-y, and largely uninteresting. There's a severe tonal mismatch between the dark and gritty drama the writers want and the comic book silliness that's actually happening.

I will say, Damien Darhk is a fairly fun villain. The actor has a good presence, and he feels like a consistent threat for the duration of the season.

I also really enjoyed Oliver and Felicity's relationship. Firstly, it's wonderful to finally not have any sort of love triangle. Second, Oliver and Felicity have excellent chemistry, and seeing their committed relationship allows for so many great moments between the pair of them. Their breakup is also well done -- I've complained before how frustrating it is when the characters on this show keep secrets from each other for stupid reasons, but this is an instance of doing that well. It's understandable why Oliver made the decision he did, and equally understandable why Felicity would be upset. It's all solid stuff.

In fact, this is probably Oliver's strongest season, character-wise. He gets a lot of good stuff here.

Curtis is okay. Honestly, I'd probably like him more if he wasn't the fourth or fifth Arrowverse character introduced with the exact same "quirky nerd" personality. That archetype has really worn thin.

Laurel is, as usual, the actual worst. At the start of the season she resolves to bring Sara back to life, despite literally everyone telling her it's a terrible idea. And when that backfires, she acts like she did nothing wrong. When she isn't being completely asinine, she still doesn't bring anything to the show. Her character does not work, has never worked, and I was genuinely glad to see her get killed off. Which was not the response I was meant to have.

I think it's time to write Malcolm Merlyn out of the show. He's worn out his welcome. And the League of Assassins could be retired for a while, as well. Every time they show up, they feel considerably less cool.

The flashbacks this season are also really boring. Oliver's trying to find this magic idol and stop a military group with some Russian slaves, and every time an episode cut back to that I wanted to go to sleep. The idol does tie back in with Darhk, but the story line felt so pointless and inconsequential.

The ending was also pretty anti-climactic. It should have worked on paper, everyone in Star City standing up to Darhk, but something just never quite clicked. But I did like the ending, with John and Thea both independently taking a break from Team Arrow. Both choices felt well-earned and it let things end on a suitably somber note.

I feel like I just complained the whole time, but this season really wasn't that bad. Just not very good either. Definitely the weakest season out of this year.

The Flash - Season 2

Many of the strengths of Season 1 continue here. The characters and cast are all still great. The simple and cozy formula works wonders. This show just has the right vibes.

We have several new characters, and they're great. Patty is unexpectedly excellent as a new love interest for Barry, and it was a shame to see her written out so soon. Wally is a fun new addition to the West family, and only gets better as the season progresses. And I did not expect Earth-2 Wells to work at all, but it absolutely did -- he has a unique dynamic with Team Flash, completely distinct from Earth-1 Wells of last season.

In fact, all the multiverse stuff is just fun. Dumb fun, but that's literally all I want these shows to be. Give me a parallel universe where Barry is a helpless nerd, Iris is a badass cop, and Caitlin is a supervillain. Why the hell not?

Another thing I appreciate is, again, the lack of love triangles. And I appreciate that both the writers and characters respect that Iris is mourning Eddie. They actually let her grieve.

If there's one thing about this season that doesn't work, it's ironically the two characters who turn out to be one and the same. Jay Garrick is bland as hell and doesn't add much to the team, while Zoom has no real presence or personality. Things improve slightly when they reveal that Jay is Zoom, and the villain can finally have a face, but it's too little too late. I think they wanted to repeat the twist of Season 1, but it just didn't land in quite the same way.

Still, everything works well enough, and I had a good time with it. No real complaints.

Crossover Event - Heroes Join Forces

As always, the crossover event is a good time. But I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the previous year's.

This event revolves around the introduction of Hawkgirl, Hawkman, and Vandal Savage... all of whom are boring and feel weirdly miscast. It's really just setup for Legends of Tomorrow, where they also don't really work.

It's ultimately the character interactions and dynamics that carry this one. Barry and Oliver pair so well together that it's a shame to only do it once or twice a year. And I think the Arrow cast just works better when they're paired with The Flash's ensemble.

Legends of Tomorrow - Season 1

This show definitely has its issues. It took a while to grow on me. But honestly... I'm coming around to it. Admittedly, I've always had a soft spot for time travel stories, so I am biased in its favor.

The main issue I have with this season is the core plot. Vandal Savage feels woefully miscast, not really having the malicious presence needed for the part (and his inconsistent accent is incredibly distracting).

Then so much of the show revolves around Kendra and Carter, who are so boring. They're meant to be star-crossed lovers, but they cast two actors with zero chemistry, and wrote that romance as though fate is forcing Kendra to be with this man against her will. It adds an uncomfortable undercurrent to their romance, and I could not figure out what they were going for.

And of course, we have another badly written romance! Kendra and Ray have no chemistry. It's like they pull two names out of a hat to decide who should date. And managing to make it a love triangle with Carter, despite him being dead for most of the season, is truly impressive.

Apart from that, though, the season really did grow on me as it went. The characters feel so random and mismatched at the start, but that actually worked in the show's favor -- seeing them become a more cohesive team felt well-earned. And all these interesting dynamics start to emerge that you wouldn't expect -- Snart and Sara, Rory and Ray, etc. And leading them all is Rip Hunter, who grew on me a lot as we learned more and more about him. (And yes, having Arthur Darvill basically playing a Time Lord is extremely fun.)

The twist of Rory being Chronos worked very well. Snart and Rory felt like the two characters that had no reason to be there, and that single twist tied them into events so cohesively. Snart's ultimate sacrifice was also very well done. (Snart and Rory were totally in love. I am not accepting other arguments.)

Overall, the setup was very fun, and it was just the main plot that didn't work. I'm hopeful that Season 2 will pick up in that respect -- especially since it looks like Kendra and Carter aren't in it.

Supergirl - Season 1

Full confession -- I have already seen this show in its entirety. And rewatching this season honestly felt like coming home. This is my TV comfort food. It has such an atmosphere of hope and love and overall good vibes. I could genuinely rewatch this season any time.

The cast is all excellent, but Melissa Benoist as Kara is on another level. This role requires a lot of things that can be contradictory at times -- gentleness and strength in equal measure -- and Benoist just nails it every time. The role is wonderfully well-written, as well. I'm definitely biased here as a Superman fan, but I do think Kara is the strongest of all these show's leads.

Calista Flockhart also steals every scene that she's in as Cat Grant. It would be so easy for her to be detestable, but her acerbic nature is always tempered by her genuine compassion. Winn is wonderful as Kara's best friend. J'onn becomes this excellent father figure to both Kara and Alex as the season progresses. I think the only weak member of the cast here is James -- he's not bad, but he is sort of bland compared to everyone else.

The single best thing this show did was give Kara an adopted sister. Kara and Alex's relationship is everything to me. It's the driving force of the entire show, and I simply adore that.

Unfortunately, like a lot of these shows, this season has a pretty annoying romance. We have not just a love triangle, but a love quartet! In the form of Kara/James/Winn/Lucy. Winn's portion of this isn't too bad -- he really just has a crush which is eventually dealt with -- but everything with Lucy is mildly agonizing. There's a lot of melodrama for the sake of melodrama, and the endgame couple of Kara/James isn't even that interesting. They very much feel like they're together for the sake of having a romance, not because they have actual chemistry.

But that truly is my only complaint. Everything else about this season works beautifully.

The crossover episode with The Flash is super cute. Barry and Oliver pair well because they're so different, but Barry and Kara pair well because they're so similar. It's just a good time all around.

[cakebatteronabrickwall]

I don’t know whether I’m getting the wrong idea but I really got the impression in that scene that Shiv realised Roman had experienced some form of sexual abuse. I was never a supporter of that theory but I honestly can’t read that situation any differently. She’s clearly watching Roman’s reaction and lightbulbs go off in her head for whatever reason which leads her to ask the old guard how bad her dad actually was, and she and her brothers had experienced Logan’s emotional abuse and she witnessed Roman’s physical abuse so what else could it be?

Oh, anon, short answer is- I don't know.

But I'll give you a long one, too. (And I made the important bits bold, haha)

First of all, I'm also not really in support of the csa theory, mainly because it asks the viewer to do a lot of inbetween the lines reading, more so than Succession already does on the regular. Secondly, and I hope I don't sound like a dick, I find it a little bit too much. But. Considering that a) there are indeed hints + some cut stuff from the scripts implying it and b) Succession is inspired by "Festen" (and csa is sort of the topic of that film) it is not impossible. Most things in this show aren't impossible if you have a valid argument, which this theory does.

But you are asking me. Personally, "lightbulb moment" yes, 100% love that phrasing. What I think it is- like you said- is Shiv seeing her worst suspicions about abuse (emotional, physical, not sexual) reflected so clearly to her by Roman. Roman of all people, the one that always jokes and makes light of his own abuse and messy inner world. She is starting to connect the dots of bad childhood memories (one of which she just talked about in front of everyone and made it into a somewhat positive thing) and real impact. Like, we know getting yelled at for playing in front of the office might not be the end of that story, especially not for Roman's side but that is left open. But, I guess, Shiv would know. And she would know that there is a direct line from back then to how she sees her brother act and react now. I can't believe I'm saying it, but it's almost like Roman became a real person to her just now.

But she can't have those dots connect right now, because there is business to be done and a father to imitate while doing so. So, she goes to Frank and Karl, she knows they will give her an answer she can live with for now. I think Frank says something like "he was a tough old nut" but, unfortunatly, that other "what you see is what you get" comment is not at all what Shiv wanted to hear, since she did see all kinds of things and there is no good to balance it, not even from the old guard.

On a side note, I also find it interesting that the scene is shot in a way where the story seems to ask Shiv "Will you follow your brother for a real answer or go for the easy way out" and then, when even the easy way is not satisfactory, she doesn't try again. (I do so hope she tries again in the finale)

tl,dr: anon, you are not getting it wrong, i think there are many ways to read this and the ambiguous space that question exists in is exactly what makes it so haunting.

[bobbybutterfly]

A Squirrel and Hedgehog OC. OoooooOOOooo. I was about to say it’s my second one (I’ve got a squirrel I never posted about before) but then I remembered Geumseagi’s dad. I think we could also have a philosophical discussion about how many head cannons can you lump up on a character before they become an OC. I imagine it’s when you change the character’s name. That’s just the last straw.

Changing up pre existing characters is a skill I learned from writing real people fan fiction. By the time you’re done writing your femboy pagan priest turned an immortal 20 something sparking dictator after the film market collapsed with the rise of AI, people will scratch their heads as to how this character ever started life as Tom Hanks. But most importantly you don’t get sued!

By the way this was an actual character I made. I never put out the unfinished book on the internet outside of one chapter on AO3. I was getting tired of working on it for I think over 2 years with no results.

This character though is original in that they’re not inspired by any character from Squirrel and Hedgehog specifically. I will talk about my inspiration for them later.

So. Their name is Shiho Tenshi as you can see. It means white angel. Originally they were supposed to be called Shiho Akuma, meaning white devil But it didn’t make sense to me that they would be called that by the weasels. They’re a war hero to them after all. Probably the Flower Hill animals would call them whatever the Korean translation of white devil is. Hayan Agma. Language is something that goes unaddressed in the series. It’s an idea I want to incorporate into my AU. Primary example being that the weasels kept Mulmangcho around as a translator.

Shiho Tenshi isn’t their real name. No one knows their “real name”. I should also mention that they’re gender fluid and use they/them pronouns. Also also they’re a white weasel if you didn’t notice. Growing up they were a poor orphan on the streets. They learned very quickly that by changing up how they behave and look they were gendered differently. Seeing their love for performance a traveling acting troupe took them in. They would preform for soldiers at military bases. Providing cheap entertainment.

One day though the base they’re performing at gets attacked. Using their sword skills they heroically defend the base earning them a place in the military. They rarely use guns or martial art. Preferring their elegant silver sword. The military allows it as it makes for some good propaganda posters. They absolutely despise all Flower Hill animals. Appearing ruthless and brutal. The peak of military masculinity. But when it comes to weasels and surprisingly mice they are kind almost motherly and willing to sacrifice themselves whenever it comes to it. They like mice because the acting troupe was primarily mice.

What do you think? I wanted to play with gender roles when it came to them. My main inspiration was Hoshiko Kawasima. They are a very interesting World War 2 queer historical figure. I would recommend checking them out. Then the character Lady Oscar from the manga Rose of Versailles. They were totally based off of Kawasima. There’s too many coincidences! Lastly their whole acting part was based off of the Takarazuka Revue. It’s an all female acting troupe in Japan. They’re really cool.

This picture was based off of a promotional image of Lady Oscar for their performance of Rose of Versailles. The background inspiration was from @32girassoisdevangogh I am trying to go more abstract graphic design for backgrounds of character art. Mainly because I’m just too tired after 5 hours of rendering. So prepare yourselves for more comic sands and pixelated images of puppies and kittens because graphic design is my passion as you can see from my tumblr banner!

I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with this character. They’re not going to be included in my Super Secret Project. Maybe I can write a short story about them or roleplay. We will see.

Bobby out!

[partyhorn]

Curious Question, but that old version of Molly where they were more cartoony and didn't wear shirts at all, did you ever make a comic with that old version of them? Or did they only existed in just drawings before you would eventually go and make the comic we know today?

I did actually make an unpublished comic back in 2019/2020, but it was my first ever attempt at a long-form story-driven comic and admittedly was pretty sloppy (the pages were just loosely sketched+uncolored, and took me about 15 minutes each total). But funny enough the only reason I'd stopped that version of the story was because I'd made an unrelated one shot comic over that summer and realized how to have confidence in comics and not just loosely sketch them LOL.

That version of the story was a lot different, focusing on Molly going back in time to present-day Earth to live amongst the humans, and very much not fitting in. Molly and Jo had acted like their chapter 1 selves throughout it, so... you can probably imagine it. Molly was supposed to be a lot more easily fed-up with life, a lazy bum who probably would've fit in very well in a 90's cartoon (and didn't even wear pj's! For a chromodoris quadricolor, THE pajama slug, that's a crime). I still find myself pretty embarrassed by that first draft, but mostly just because it was my first serious comic attempt and I know I've improved tenfold since then LOL. It's a fun and goofy story, but definitely not a reflection of MFM now, it's honestly kind of the exact opposite tone-wise (if you've read up to the most recent chapters you can see the heavy tone shifting already). But in all honesty, I still have a soft spot for the drastically different original Molly and Jo, so maybe I'll revisit the concept one day... many many years from now when MFM is done that is, I don't feel like sharing it until then.

A few months before I'd started MFM as it is now back in early 2021, I also tried to work the idea into a short film. That also didn't pan out, and sadly all of the half-completed work I've done on those are gone on an old broken hard drive (well, maybe not "sadly". They were also embarrassingly bad as well LOL) But, trying to rework everything into a >5min short film with no voices had proved to be a good exercise in condensing plots, and it really helped me smooth out the rough edges and establish the basic plot and lore. So then when I decided to make everything into a comic again, everything went extremely well! I could go on more about my behind the scenes with this comic, but maybe in another post sometime... this is quite long LMAO

[moviemunchies]

When this movie first came out, I was in my senior year in high school. Everyone thought that this would be my favorite movie ever of all time. I have a well-known Thing about dragons.

It’s not my favorite movie.

It is pretty darn good, though.

Loosely based on books by Cressida Cowell, How to Train Your Dragon tells the story of Hiccup, a young viking boy in the village of Berk, a place often beset by dragon attacks. Hiccup, despite being the son of Berk’s chieftain, is not much of a warrior. He does want to make his dad proud, though, and so he invents a weapon to shoot down the rarest and most deadly type of dragon they know, a Night Fury. But when he actually manages to catch one, he ends up befriending the dragon instead of killing it. And in the process of befriending the Night Fury, whom he names ‘Toothless’ (on account of being able to retract his teeth), Hiccup learns more about dragon behavior than anyone else in Berk.

Let’s step right out the gate by saying that Toothless is awesome. He’s both awesome and lovable-looking. They purposefully designed him so he had some catlike features, so he doesn’t act just like a large lizard. That’s a thing that I think many people designing dragons trip up on–they don’t think about how a dragon might actually act as an animal in the wild. I like the idea of dragons as animals, and studying how they behave and interact with their habitats. Seeing that in a family film was delightful.

[Okay, yes, Toothless acts way nicer than a wild animal would realistically be, but this movie is made with children in mind. I can get over it. It at least acknowledges that these wild animals can be dangerous, which is more than a lot of movies with children in mind can do with large animals. Look at Camp Cretaceous, for instance, which treats large herbivores like friendly animals.]

I’m very fond of how they have a variety of dragons in the movie. Many fantasy settings try to have it so that there is only one type of dragon; seeing more than one, multiple types, that first different ideas of what a dragon could be–that’s fantastic! Go nuts with those dragon designs! I love to see it!

Hiccup’s a very good family film protagonist! Were we having the conversation about toxic masculinity back in 2010? I don’t know. Regardless, it is cool, if not entirely unique, that we had a protagonist from a hyper masculine/aggressive society that isn’t a hardcore warrior, and his character arc doesn’t get him there. It’s about using his own character strengths, developing them without changing who he is at his core (a bit like Kung Fu Panda in that way!).

And his leg! Spoiler alert: but at the end of the movie, in the final fight, he loses his leg. The stakes here are real. Sure, we don’t see a lot of death and violence, we’re told that dragons and vikings have been killing each other for years. It would be too easy to leave it like that, but the movie shows that bad things can happen to our characters when they’re in danger, and I respect it for doing that.

We should talk about Astrid. I think some people thought that she didn’t work so well as a love interest because she isn’t developed enough. I think as a secondary character she has enough development, especially because she isn’t, at the end of the film, throwing herself into the protagonist’s arms. She’s coming around to him, and she’s impressed by what Hiccup’s accomplished (he is, as she brings up, the first viking to ride a dragon). In short, yes, she could have done with more development, though I think her role in the movie is fine as it is.

[Especially because I know she has more to do in the following movies.]

I have long had some questions about the final boss dragon? Running with the idea that dragons are just animals, albeit surprisingly intelligent ones, the concept of one dragon being ‘the Bad One’ doesn’t really hold up? Like, yeah, dragons are fine, except that one bad one making them be bad? I suppose either way, it makes sense that regardless of whether or  not the dragon is morally good or evil, it’s posing a threat to the people of Berk, so they’re justified in taking it down. I think some discussion of this would have been warranted, though.

Anyhow! This is a superb dragon movie! And even if it’s nothing like the book, it’s an excellent family film. I can see why this became one of Dreamworks’s flagship movie serieses. It’s pretty darn good, and if you like family films, or if you love dragons as I do, you should definitely check it out.

[philhoffman]

Missed my Monday Philm and this guy while on vacation last week, so I decided to watch something special tonight. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), with the commentary track featuring director Sidney Lumet and stars PSH and Ethan Hawke. It's one of the few tracks Phil did that I hadn't listened to before—I think it might be the last one I had yet to hear? So, it's bittersweet—good to hear his voice (he must've had a cold, he was coughing so much; yawning, his big laughs; the way you can almost hear his silence, the absence of his voice hanging in the air) but sad to be another step closer to seeing all there is to see.

The last time I watched BTDKYD a few months ago, I mentioned something about how difficult it is to write about this film, for obvious and personal reasons alike. The raw emotion and intensity and explicit drug use and blood squeezed into this film make it a hard watch. But the last couple days I've felt I'm in a safe and solid enough place to do some reflection and healing and to generally work through a couple of the many complicated feelings I have about addiction and grieving Phil's death. This is clearly one of the pieces most directly tied to those struggles.

So closely tied, actually, that it used to leave me despondent. The car scene alone—unbearable, until I heard Sidney Lumet (in a behind-the-scenes short) describing the technical and practical and artistic choices that went into creating it. It really helped to hear how Phil, as an actor, helped shape that scene. Just a reminder, as simple as it sounds, that it's "not real."

I figured the commentary track would help ease that feeling for the whole movie, and for a large part it did! Sidney Lumet sure was something, lmao. You get to know people very quickly and on a curious level when you watch a film with them, as these tracks simulate. Ethan Hawke is brilliant and so thoughtful and poetic, he is truly a gem not just as an actor but an artist and member of humanity. Phil mumbles. I am so in love with his mind—I think that's part of the reason he's been my person so intensely for so long now. He isn't as effortlessly eloquent as Ethan, but you can hear the gears turning as he thinks and speaks, you can almost reach out and solidly grasp the ideas he is struggling to form and push and shove out of his mind. It helps that we have many of the same tastes and he's shaped my own artistic perspective so much, but he has such a grip on profound truths—they stumble out of his mouth almost accidentally, inconsequentially, as if they don't shift my worldview.

Commentary quick hits below the cut

Watching the opening scene: "I'm mum. I'm silent at this part."

They all kind of lose their breath for a moment when Marisa is on screen (her and Ethan's nude scene) and Phil breaks the tension by saying he was breathless because of Ethan being naked pls

Phil is definitely the quietest. Lumet goes on and on about absolutely nothing related to the film, Ethan steers them back, Phil coughs and says something about eating strawberries and at one point is 100% not paying attention 😭 They're talking about Katharine Hepburn and Phil is so zoned out he goes "Who?"

He's not extremely forthcoming. He said something striking (and obviously in hindsight, devastating) about Andy's drug use during that graphic injection scene but otherwise he let Lumet do most of the talking.

Apparently there was a contest to be an extra in this movie??? Why didn't I know about that? (I was under 10 years old when it was filmed)

Lumet said there were times when he got nervous because Phil's acting was so organic and powerful and raw—the vein popping out of his forehead, slamming his fist onto the table, the violence in the final couple scenes.

What Phil said earlier about drug use was upsetting but I was fine. Then, when Hank's tween daughter calls him a loser, Phil (a dad to two toddlers at the time) laughs and says "Oh man, is that what's coming?" I had to physically shake that one off. Fuck man

There was total silence during the whole car scene. Neither Phil nor Ethan nor Lumet said a word. That isn't unheard of for a commentary track but it's not common either—just goes to show how staggering that performance is. Stunned silence.

Phil told a story about how he used to fall asleep before wrestling matches as a kid and still dozes off in his dressing room before stage performances because of his anxiety he's just like me <3

Every time I try to wrap this film up in a neat bow it ends up an incoherent mess. I think that's okay for now. But I do wish there were more commentary tracks to listen to. It's nice to watch movies with Phil. I wish there was a PSH commentary track for every film I've ever seen.

[xplrvibes]

Ok, I wrote out my rant. Read it back. Realised I kept arguing with myself and didn't actually have a solid opinion. Deleted my rant, and now I will just leave you with this.

I don't get this argument/theory that snc may have signed an NDA and that's why they haven't spoken out against c&s being "frauds." As someone who has worked with numerous NDAs (context: I work in film/tv production, primarily as a producer) I just don't see how one fits into the equation.

Unless, and this is a big 'unless', everything about that week went according to script. Then yes, there would be a non-disclosure agreement in place for everyone. Because, truthfully, I actually struggle to see how the week at the Conjuring house could have been entertaining enough to make so many videos had c&s not been there. Look at their initial plan for the week, and look how effortlessly it flew out the window when they met c&s.

Because fakes or not, c&s add an amazingly entertaining and interesting element to the series. If this was always marketed as a fictional/scripted production, c&s are awesome characters! They add such a great element to the story. It's like adding a powerful witch to fantasy stories, they're your catch-all get out of jail free card characters. But since snc market their content as genuine and real, which I do believe them with, c&s having this powerful connection to the other side was maybe a bit too much for people to swallow.

Anyway, long story short, my rant was about how stupid I found this argument/idea of snc signing NDAs and that's why they haven't spoken against c&s (if they have anything to speak against about) Even taking into account Kris went on a podcast and said snc got scammed, which led people to assume they'd spoken to her and maybe revealed something they otherwise can't say publicly. I just, idk... it doesn't make sense to me why an NDA would be in place. I can't think of any reason why there would need to be one. If they did need to sign one, I'd be raising my eyebrows high key. For me, that would personally throw away any credibility to that location and people inside.

-- aussie anon

Yea, I don't know where the NDA story came into play, honestly. I just think people really wanted snc to come out and be like, "You're right guys, these people are frauds, attack!!" And when snc didn't do that - because why would they, they themselves couldn't prove or disprove anything - the people who wanted any excuse for snc not declaring c&s frauds threw NDAs out there as a plausible theory as to why they are playing nice.

I'm sure they've signed many an NDA in their lives and business. I doubt Conjuring was one of them.

First of all, I'm sorry - I just don't think snc would be stupid enough to bet the farm on something that they knew could 100% be debunked. Maybe back in 2016, when they had 1/15th of the following they had now and any press was good press (see: Killing Best Friend Prank or some of their early attempts at theater of the mind), sure; but not at this stage of their careers, with getting this into movie theaters and all the mainstream attention they knew it was going to get.

If they were scripting something, they wouldn't be trying to have it shown on such a large platform. It would've been a throwaway video that only their dedicated fanbase of people who wouldn't question them would see.

And second of all - people act like snc haven't come out and said a word about c&s, and that'd not true. They did a whole interview where they answered a skeptic's questions about them. They made a video on the react channel addressing everything, their concerns, their attempts to debunk those concerns, and, most importantly: their failed attempts to try a third series of tests with c&s, who refused. They ended that video basically saying, "We can't disprove this, and they won't let us go further with trying, so we're just gonna move on." They tried to debunk it directly from the source and couldn't. Not sure what more they could say or do.

Third - I know what more people wanted them to say or do. They wanted them to go "well bobthedebunker65 on youtube said you can pop your joints so clearly he's right and they are frauds and fuck them and the horse they rode in on," only snc don't know bobthedebunker65 (and bobthedebunker65 keeps referring to them in very patronizing ways, such as floppy haired idiots who only girls like, [cause ew girls' interests amirite], so why should they validate him anyway?). They do know c&s, the Conjuring staff, and the experience they had. They aren't gonna shit on that to please some people who just want blood and drama.

If snc had been able to prove that c&s were frauds, they would've said it. From a business standpoint, it would actually be better for them in the long run. They'd be the victims and/or the heroes in everyone's eyes.

But they couldn't prove it. So why burn a bridge and cause a stink unnecessarily?

Now all this to say, I was never on board with c&s from day 1, and you can read my posts on the Conjuring at the time to see me debunking the whole thing in real time. That being said, I also take snc's stance...unless you can actually definitively prove fraud beyond a shadow of a doubt...eh. I'm moving on. Everyone else should as well. All these people are doing now is just driving more foot traffic to this video they want scrubbed from the internet and more attention to the people they want kicked out the paranormal community. Kind of counterproductive, honestly.

Anyway. Yea. I agree. Lol.