#Sorry about the addition of Songs that are only in Spanish‚ I understand that most of you won't understand half lf the lyrics... | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

organabanana · 4 years ago

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What spring does to cherry trees || Supercorp

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom: Supergirl (TV 2015)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: None

Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor

Characters: Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor

Additional Tags: mostly fluff, with some porn for flair, pre-canon, but also, post-canon, tooth-rotting fluff.

Summary: I want to do with you what spring does to cherry trees. What does that even mean? It's taking a simple I love you and putting lead-lined glasses on it to keep its power contained. No offense, Mr. Neruda, but that's just weak. Kara doesn't like poetry. Until she does.

Notes: Written for a very patient anon who prompted me with “Seeing the cherry blossoms in Washington DC” but I got sidetracked by Neruda and my favorite of his poems and it turned into This. It's poem number fourteen, found in "Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada" (Twenty love poems and a song of despair) by Pablo Neruda, which you can read here (Spanish) or here (English). I mostly translated the lines I needed myself, so I can't guarantee they'll match the official translation (I'm also not sure there is such a thing as an official translation, so there's that). With special thanks to the most patient anon in history for the prompt, to @lavenderrry for praising my vibes, and to @emiltons for the gorgeous graphic.

[ao3 link]

The first time Kara encounters Neruda's poetry she's nineteen and bored. In her defense, she thought taking a poetry class would make her feel sophisticated and cultured, but all she feels is annoyed at the insistence of using language to obscure your message rather than share it.

And yes, yes, she gets it. It all sounds very pretty and evocative. It's just Kara has been hiding her true self in plain sight for the last six years, and she can't understand why anyone would willingly and needlessly do that to themselves. To their feelings. She may never have been in love, but Kara is pretty sure if she ever is -- if her heart ever feels full to the brim with the kind of big feelings her professor keeps making them read in metaphors and symbolism -- she'll want to make them clear as day.

I want to do with you what spring does to cherry trees.

What does that even mean?

It's taking a simple I love you and putting lead-lined glasses on it to keep its power contained.

No offense, Mr. Neruda, but that's just weak.

***

Kara doesn't take any more poetry classes, and she doesn't think of Neruda (or any other poet, for that matter) for years. She has so many other things to think about. She moves to National City and starts working for Ms. Grant. She grows into herself, she thinks. She becomes Supergirl and feels more like herself than she has since her pod left Krypton. She dates, a little bit. Dips her toe in the dating pool, if you will. She meets Lena Luthor.

And that's the second time she runs into Neruda. Right there on a shelf in Lena's living room, on a book that looks well loved and well read, spine full of small cracks and lines from being opened over and over again. Kara has always thought you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their shelves.

"Pablo Neruda," Kara says, one finger tracing a line down the spine of the book like she's trying to read something in the pattern of the cracks, "I didn't know you liked poetry."

"I don't dislike it." Lena's heels click-clack on the hardwood floor before she sets the bottle of wine and two glasses on the coffee table and sits on the couch. "Have you made up your mind on what we're going to watch?"

Kara can hear the faint electrical hum of the TV being turned on, but she's a bit too distracted by the book to focus on deciding whether tonight is a night for a romantic comedy or an epic drama. She couldn't say exactly why this book feels important. It just does. Maybe it's because Lena keeps so much of herself hidden somewhere not even Kara's X-Ray vision can reach, and finding little clues about her thoughts and feelings feels a lot like she's struck gold.

Yeah. Maybe that's why.

Her fascination with the book only grows when she pulls it out of the shelf only to find the title written in Spanish. "Veinte poemas de amor--"

"And a song of despair," Lena finishes in English. "Atonement? I've heard good things about it."

"No way. I said I could be persuaded to watch a tear jerker, but I did not sign up for actual depression." Kara brings the book along when she walks over to sit down next to Lena. She's so focused on the book, still, that she miscalculates her landing just by an inch or so and her thigh bumps against Lena's as she settles on the couch. But Lena doesn't move away, and Kara figures there's no reason why she should. They're friends, after all. Close friends. Figuratively and now very, very literally close.

"I didn't know you spoke Spanish." Kara speaks again, breaking the silence before it solidifies into something potentially awkward.

"I don't. It's a bilingual edition. Can we please pick a movie?"

Kara would love to do exactly what Lena wants. In fact, giving Lena everything she wants has become sort of a constant in this fledgling friendship between them. It just feels nice, you know? Giving her what she wants and making her smile. But this book. It's all so very distracting.

"So. Do you prefer the twenty love poems, or the song of despair?"

Lena rolls her eyes, but she can't quite hide the amused smirk behind the glass when she sips her wine, so Kara knows she's not nearly as annoyed as she's trying to appear.

"What is it with you and Neruda? I didn't know you were a poetry fan."

Kara scoffs. "I'm not." She still remembers the feeling of relief washing over her when she saw her passing grade on that stupid course and realized she'd never have to read another line of poetry in her life. "I don't even like poetry. I'm just curious, that's all."

Lena cocks one eyebrow at her. Studies her, in a way that makes color rise to Kara's cheeks and has her wondering if Lena can see through people, too.

"Anyway!" Kara shakes her head like she's hoping that'll make the blush fade. "The love poems, or the song of despair?"

"The poems," Lena finally concedes, "and I'm very surprised you don't like poetry. You seem the type."

"What?" Kara is already thumbing through the edge of the book, trying to find the place where it'll open naturally and hopefully show her which of the twenty love poems Lena happens to like the most. "What does that even mean?"

"Well, you have a big heart. Big feelings." Lena looks into Kara's eyes like she's trying to read all those feelings right there in shades of blue, and Kara finds herself looking down at the book just in case. Just in case all those big feelings she can't even name herself are there for Lena to read. "Seems like a recipe for liking poetry."

Kara shakes her head and pushes her glasses up, just in case. Just in case the lead in them can shield more than just her powers. And just as she's about to argue -- just as she's about to tell Lena precisely why she doesn't like poetry -- she opens her book and her gaze lands on a familiar phrase.

"Quiero hacer contigo," she reads out loud from the page on the left, and her fingertip is already finding the next verse on the right when Lena finishes for her.

"What spring does to cherry trees."

If Kara was just Kara Danvers, she'd have missed it all. She'd have just heard her best friend speak a line from a poem that -- much like most poems -- means very little to her. But she's not just Kara Danvers. So Kara hears the way Lena's heart beats just a little bit faster. The way her breath catches just so. The exact fraction of a tone her voice drops when she speaks. The faintest hint of a sigh.

"See? This is why I don't like poetry." Kara chances a look into green eyes, and she's so very grateful Lena has no superhearing to tip her off to the way Kara's heart seems to trip all over itself. "'I want to do with you what spring does to cherry trees'. What does that mean?"

Kara swears -- she swears -- she catches Lena's pupils dilating just enough to make her think she knows exactly what the poem means.

"It's not about what it means, Kara. It's about what it makes you feel." Lena lets out a soft chuckle, something light and airy like this is just a silly little conversation with no weight to it at all. Like she can't feel the way the air itself seems to have changed into something new.

"Is it your favorite line?" Kara pretends she can't hear the way her own voice has changed, too.

Lena shakes her head. "No. My favorite is actually--"

Kara hears the DEO alarm before Lena's fingertip can make contact with the paper, and she almost considers ignoring it. She almost considers letting whatever danger is looming over this whole city have at it because finding out what's Lena's favorite line in her favorite poem seems far more important right now.

But of course, that would be crazy. Crazy! Kara would never.

"I'm so sorry, Lena, I--" Kara stands up, already hearing Alex's voice telling her where she's needed as she pulls her phone out of her pocket and pretends to read a text, "I have to go. I forgot I had this thing with--"

"Go." Lena's smile is just small enough to make Kara's heart twist in an uncomfortable way that's become familiar since she started lying to her friend. "Sounds important. I understand."

Kara nods, just once. "Tomorrow?"

Lena's smile doesn't grow, but it suddenly reaches her eyes, and something settles in Kara's chest. "Of course. Tomorrow."

Five hours later, foe defeated and safely locked away at the DEO, Supergirl touches down on Lena's balcony. There isn't a single light on inside the apartment, and Kara hesitates for a second by the sliding glass door. She shouldn't sneak into Lena's apartment in the middle of the night. That's a little creepy, right? Even if she knows Lena's said over and over again Kara's welcome any time.

It's just.

That book.

Lena's favorite line.

Kara may never be able to sleep again if she doesn't find out what it is.

So with a non-zero amount of shame at her own choice, Kara ends up sliding the door open and slipping into Lena's living space. She listens for Lena's breathing to make sure she's asleep, and once she's satisfied that's the case she makes a beeline for the shelf and the now-familiar book. It doesn't take her long to find the page she'd been reading before, and soon enough she's reading the lines Lena had been pointing to.

How you must have hurt getting used to me, to my savage, solitary soul, to my name that sends everyone running.

The words wrap around Kara's heart like a vice. If she could do it without blowing her cover and putting Lena in danger, she'd go in her room right now just to wake her up and tell her what Kara thinks about her soul. About her name, too, while she's at it. She'd tell her everyone else is free to run if they want, but Kara isn't going anywhere.

But she can't do any of those things.

***

The two lines stay with Kara, sort of swirling under the surface of her thoughts. She never actively thinks about them -- about poetry in general, for that matter -- but they're there.

She remembers them sometimes. When their friendship grows and strengthens and one day Kara realizes Lena may be the person she loves the most in the world (tied with Alex). When the secrets and lies catch up with her and she thinks she may have lost Lena for good. When she finally gets Lena back.

It's been five years since she snuck into Lena's apartment that one night to find out about her favorite line in her favorite poem. Five years since she's actively thought about Neruda and the book and the words inside it. But for some reason, when Kara wakes up a couple hours earlier than she needs to and finds herself unable to sleep, she feels like that's precisely what she needs to read to soothe her brain. Maybe poetry will have the same sedative effect it used to have in college.

Wearing only an old t-shirt, Kara walks out of the bedroom and into the living area, scanning the shelves where she thinks she last saw that book. It's hard to keep track when your book collection has multiplied and turned into more of a home library situation than anything else, but she eventually finds it -- spine still cracked and pages still well-loved and well-read -- and settles down on the couch.

Kara flips from poem to poem, not really paying attention to any of them. A line from the third and then two from the eighteenth and a word or two from the seventh, eyes flicking between the Spanish lines and their English counterparts on the other side of the page. It's soothing, in a strange way. Like white noise, she figures. Nonsensical but calming. Until she lands on the fourteenth.

"Oh, those cherry trees," Kara half-groans in a whisper. The cherry trees and the spring and the convoluted way to say I love you. And Lena's favorite lines.

Kara feels it all over again. The pang of pain at the sight of that line.

My name that sends everyone running.

It lands different this time, five years into a friendship that turned out to be so much more and nearly went up in flames at one point. Because of names and lies and... well. Everything else. Lena was right after all, wasn't she? It's not about what the poem means. It's about what it makes you feel. And right now Kara feels a lot more than she'd be able to put in words if she had to.

Maybe Mr. Neruda was on to something after all.

"Hey," Lena's voice is laced with sleep, and Kara smiles as she listens to her footsteps bringing her closer, "what are you doing? It's the middle of the night."

Kara wouldn't call it the middle of the night -- more like a very early morning, really -- but she's not about to argue. "Reading. I couldn't sleep."

"Everything all right?" Lena reaches the back of the couch and makes the most of the rare height advantage over her girlfriend to press a kiss to the top of blond hair. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

Kara opens her arms before Lena can even think about sitting next to her instead, and smiles at the familiar weight of Lena sliding onto her lap. Even as she shrugs off Lena's question, Kara is already burying her face against the soft skin of her girlfriend's neck, breathing her in and letting the familiar scent filling her lungs soothe her like no amount of poetry ever could.

"Kara," Lena's fingers slide into blond hair, blunt fingernails scratching at Kara's scalp and making her hum in delight, "that's not an answer."

"No reason. I'm just not tired anymore I guess." A deep, content sigh. "Baby, you're so good at that."

There's still a slight crease between Lena's eyebrows, but that doesn't stop the smile Kara's praise brings to her face. "You'd tell me if I had to worry?"

Reluctantly, Kara pulls away from the warmth of Lena's neck. Her arms wrap around Lena's waist as she looks into green eyes. "You know I would."

And Kara watches Lena let the words sink in. They've had this conversation before, and Kara knows they'll have it again. They both have sore spots that need special care from time to time. And just to keep Lena's mind from going down any sort of rabbit hole, Kara decides it's time to continue a conversation they left unfinished five years ago.

"It didn't hurt at all, you know. Getting used to you." Kara shows Lena the book she's been holding, and grins when Lena smirks as the reference clicks.

"I thought you didn't like poetry," Lena chides, taking the book and flipping through the pages until she lands -- unsurprisingly, if you ask Kara -- back on poem fourteen.

"I don't. It's like... giving feelings a secret identity."

Lena arches one eyebrow, looking somewhere between amused and curious. "Care to explain?"

"Well, you know," Kara leans in to steal a quick, soft kiss, "say I want to kiss you. I can just say it. That's better than hiding it behind some kind of... flowery metaphor that'll make you wonder if I'm even saying that in the first place. Right?"

There's this look on Lena's face. Kara knows it well. It's like a challenge. Like she's playing chess and she's already thinking six moves ahead and knows you're toast whatever you do from that point on. Kara finds it nothing short of delicious.

"So you're saying," Lena says, and there's victory right there simmering under the surface of her words because she knows -- she knows -- she's won, "you'd rather I say 'this is a lovely sunrise we get to see together'," Lena's gaze drops to the open book in her hand to refresh her memory on the line she's about to quote, but she makes sure she's looking into blue eyes once again when she speaks, "than 'so many times we've watched the morning star burn, kissing our eyes, and over our heads the grey light unwind in turning fans', right?"

Kara swallows, hard. Her cheeks burn with a blush that will simply not be contained, no matter how hard she tries to keep some semblance of dignity. Her mouth feels dry all of a sudden, heart beating just fast enough -- hard enough -- that she's sure even Lena's plain human hearing can pick it up. And the look on her girlfriend's face lets Kara know she knows exactly what's currently happening to her.

"W-- well." Kara blinks, shaking her head like she's trying to physically clear the fog inside. To her credit, she thinks she manages to sound more indignant than turned on. "I mean that's unfair. You made it hot."

Lena lets out a delighted chuckle that hits Kara right in her heart, like a little pinball ball making it ding with the knowledge that Lena Luthor is happy enough to laugh. Really, truly laugh.

"What?" Lena asks, still grinning, fingertips teasing the soft hairs at the back of Kara's neck like it's nothing -- like she doesn't know what she's doing to her. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Ohh no, ma'am," Kara grins, cheeks still burning with the feeling simmering down low in her belly but too charmed by her girlfriend's teasing smile to stop, "you don't get to pretend you didn't do that on purpose."

"Kara," Lena says, in that way, because she knows, she knows, she knows Kara's weaknesses so perfectly well, and Kara wouldn't have it any other way, "I was just quoting Neruda, I didn't do anything."

"You did the voice thing!"

"What voice th-- Kara, if you can't just admit plain language and poetic language are simply not on the same level I--"

"You purred the words! How is that fair!?"

Kara presses her lips together like she can retroactively keep the words from exiting her mouth. Too late, though. Lena looks positively delighted.

"I purred the words?" Lena echoes, barely able to keep a straight face. Actually, you know what? Scratch that. She's openly pleased with herself. Smug, even.

"I mean. I mean," Kara says, and she touches the bridge of her nose with one fingertip because for a moment she's forgotten there are no glasses to push up at all, "obviously it's not the same. Poetry and prose, they're inherently--"

"Different, right," Lena finishes Kara's thought, "so you see how you'd use one or the other depending on how emotionally charged--"

Kara shakes her head. "But you don't need flowery metaphors to convey emotion! You can just say what you mean and mean what you say."

"But you just said it yourself. It felt different when I just said it's a sunset, and when I quoted--"

"You purred poetry at me, Lena, of course I'm going to feel a certain kind of way!"

And there it is. Kara feels it in her bones. The checkmate Lena had seen coming a mile away. She sees it right there in the smirk on her girlfriend's face. In the way Lena's pupils dilate just so. The way her tongue peeks out to lick her lips as she looks at Kara like she's lunch.

Or, you know. Breakfast, as the case may be.

"You feel a certain kind of way?" Lena shifts on Kara's lap and they've been together for long enough that Kara absolutely knows there's nothing innocent or coincidental in the way Lena's night shirt (Kara's high school gym t-shirt, mind you) rides up to expose Lena's lace-covered ass. "What kind of way is that, Supergirl?"

Kara perks up at the sound of her name. Her other name. Because maybe it wasn't checkmate after all. Maybe it was just check. Because the thing is, it's not just Lena knowing all of Kara's weaknesses. That knowledge very much goes both ways. And Lena calling her Supergirl?

Oh, Kara is absolutely not the only one who's feeling a certain way.

"You know." Kara shrugs slightly, pretending to still be the mouse in this little game. She rests one hand on Lena's knee and lets her palm slide up her thigh, slowly, listening to Lena's heartbeat speeding up with each inch of skin Kara explores. "You know the way I mean."

Lena's breath hitches just so when Kara's hand slides further up, and Kara savors the sound of Lena's heart tripping over itself when her fingertips drag along damp lace.

"You're listening, aren't you?" Lena cocks her eyebrow, but her lips stay parted and her breathing comes in short, warm puffs so the whole thing really doesn't come off as stern as Kara is sure Lena would like.

"Hmm?" Kara knows she's probably pushing her luck, but she bats her eyelashes anyway, her face the very picture of innocence as if her fingertips weren't tracing the very edge of Lena's panties, hinting at what they could (will) do if she just happened to push that fabric aside. "Listening to what, baby?"

Lena tries not to -- Kara can see the struggle right there in her eyes -- but she whimpers anyway, quiet and just barely audible to the human ear.

"Kara." It tries to sound like a warning, but it falls just this side of pleading instead. Lena blushes so very pretty when she's feeling a certain kind of way.

"Yes, Lena?"

"You're listening," a breath, slow and measured like she wishes she could take in a deep one but her lungs can't quite cope with that right now, "to me."

"Well, I mean," Kara shrugs slightly, like she can't feel the warmth of Lena's pussy against her fingertips, "I try to. I feel like it's good girlfriend etiquette."

Lena is trying so hard to look at least moderately annoyed. It's not working at all, but Kara can see that's her intent. She also knows exactly what Lena means, too. She means Kara is listening to her. To the beat of her heart and the air in her lungs and all the tiny, inaudible (for everyone else) sounds that tell her exactly how much Lena wants her.

"You're listening to what you're doing to me." Lena drops the book on the floor to wrap both hands around Kara's neck, hips shifting forward just enough to get more contact with Kara's hand between her legs. Kara knows Lena doesn't need superhearing to notice the way Kara's breath catches in her throat.

"And what am I doing to you, baby?" Kara won't cross the barrier of Lena's panties just yet, but her fingers becomes more purposeful, less teasing as two fingertips press against Lena's clit through damp lace. Lena's eyes flutter closed and she takes in a sharp breath that sounds almost like a gasp, and Kara rewards such a gorgeous sound with a kiss to Lena's jaw. "What Spring does to cherry trees?"

Lena must feel Kara's teasing grin even if she can't see it, because she lets out a breathless chuckle even as her hips start rocking to meet the movements of Kara's fingers. "Just admit poetry can express richer emotions than prose ever cou--"

Kara's mouth is on Lena's before she can finish her thought, and Kara would maybe feel a bit guilty for interrupting, but Lena's fingers fist in blond hair and pull her close and there's no way someone who's offended would kiss her like that. And Kara isn't even listening anymore, because Lena's tongue is in her mouth and all she can hear is her own heart thumping along anyway.

When she breaks the kiss, Lena keeps Kara close. She's panting slightly, breath hot and wet against Kara's lips and pupils so dilated Kara wonders if she can see her at all. A quiet, hitched moan escapes parted lips, and Kara swears there's nothing in the world -- in the universe, really -- more beautiful than Lena when she's like this. Like putty in her hands. And Kara just can't resist.

"Admit you purred," she whispers against kiss-swollen lips, knowing if there's one chance for her to win an argument with her girlfriend this must be it. When she has Lena rocking against her fingers, wet and wanting and just the right amount of needy to get her to give in, for once.

"Kara." It's practically a whine, and Kara swears it sounds like victory. Until she sees the glint in her girlfriend's eyes, and Lena gets her checkmate move after all. "Shut up and fuck me."

Kara feels the words rather than hears them. They hit right between her legs and spread all over her body, and you know what? Kara really is okay with losing under these particular circumstances.

Two fingers hook under the crotch of Lena's panties and Kara tugs lightly, almost like she's testing the strength of the lacy fabric. "Do you really like the..." Kara's voice trails off as Lena pulls the t-shirt up and over her head, blue eyes staring unabashedly at her girlfriends breasts as she struggles to finish her thought, "...these?"

It's just polite to ask before tearing someone's panties to shreds, if you ask her, even if you're currently transfixed at the sight of her breasts.

"I don't care." Lena's voice is doing that thing again, except this time Kara is pretty sure she's not doing it on purpose at all, it's just that's what Lena sounds like when she needs Kara now and isn't that just the best thing ever? "Baby, please, I don't care."

Kara doesn't know if she rips the panties off first and then leans in to catch Lena's left nipple with her mouth or if it happens the other way around, but she honestly doesn't care either, as it turns out. All she knows is two fingers slip inside Lena in one smooth, firm thrust, and her free hand grabs Lena's right breast, and then--

"More," Lena moans, breathy and greedy, but when Kara starts thrusting harder into her Lena shakes her head, "no, no-- more fingers," and Kara lets out a quiet whimper around the stiff nipple between her teeth.

Kara pulls her fingers out of Lena and stretches her ring finger to join the first two before sliding them back inside. Her movements are slow and careful, all of her senses focused on detecting even the slightest hint of discomfort in her girlfriend until her three fingers are fully inside Lena.

"Go on, Supergirl."

Lena's tone is just the right amount of teasing to make Kara chuckle lightly, mouth leaving Lena's breast to trail kisses up her sternum and to the freckles on her neck as her arm starts pumping once again. She's so very close, Kara can tell, and even more so when she turns her wrist just so to press the pad of her thumb against Lena's clit.

Lena's fingers dig into Kara's scalp, into the strong muscle at her shoulder as Lena holds on and rides Kara's hand, hips rocking hard and fast in time with Kara's thrusts. Kara couldn't listen to any one thing if she tried. It's a symphony of sighs and moans, whimpers and ragged breaths and stuttering heartbeats that nearly overwhelms her senses until she feels Lena clench around her fingers, hips losing their rhythm as Lena comes with Kara's name on her lips.

Kara pulls her face away from Lena's neck just so she can look at her. Watch her come around her fingers and then relax, chest heaving with the effort of trying to catch her breath. Kara swears there can't be a more beautiful sight in the universe, especially not now, with the sun rising and bathing Lena's damp skin in early morning light. And as much as Kara tries to suppress it, there's a thought running through her head. A line from that stupid poem with its stupid cherry trees.

A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body...

"You're thinking very loudly," Lena whispers, already resting her head on Kara's shoulder as her fingertips play with the hem of Kara's shirt, "what are you thinking?"

For a second, Kara considers telling her, but Neruda's words aren't what comes out when she opens her mouth. "Just how beautiful you look," she says, which is in fact the truth. Kind of. She can't let Lena win every single time, right?

***

"Apparently the first cherry trees got here in 1910, but they had to burn them all because of a bunch of insects." Kara holds the little guide book in her hand as she reads, her other hand safely in Lena's as they walk along the Tidal Basin. "These ones are newer, from 1912."

"Oh, like the Titanic!" Lena looks delighted with the coincidence, and the bright smile on her face makes Kara lean in to steal a kiss from her lips. Her fiancée is super cute when she lets her inner dork show, if you ask Kara.

"See? I told you buying an actual guide book would be worth it!" Kara holds the small book in her hand with the pride of someone who's just won an argument (for once). "Where else are you going to get that kind of high quality trivia?"

"You do know the prototype L-Corp keychain I gave you last week can access Google, yes?"

"Not the same."

"Not to mention the actual supercomputers we all carry around in our pockets. Or the high-tech communicator in your wat--"

"Lena!" Kara groans. "Look around! The cherry blossoms! The quaintness of springtime! A romantic stroll along the river! Where's your sense of romance?"

Lena chuckles lightly, her free hand sliding up Kara's arm to wrap around her bicep. And Kara would complain about the obvious use of one of her many Lena-related weaknesses, but you know what? It works.

"Kara Danvers," Lena says, voice low and teasing, "that's all very poetic."

Kara rolls her eyes, but she can't quite stop the bright smile that's already appearing on her face. "Don't you start with me," she warns, not very convincingly.

Lena presses a kiss to Kara's shoulder, and it makes color rise to Kara's cheeks even through the soft fabric of her cardigan. Even after all these years. But she figures if there's one day to be particularly enamored with one's fiancée, that's the day she's scheduled to receive a Presidential Award for her contributions to science and the betterment of humanity.

Not to brag. But Kara is proud.

"I love you," Kara says, because she can't not, "and I'm just so proud, I--"

Lena presses a finger to Kara's lips, stopping what was potentially about to turn into a whole speech about the many ways in which Lena Luthor could not possibly be any more perfect if she tried.

"Kara," Lena warns, all cocked eyebrow and slightly pursed lips, "you promised. You promised you wouldn't cry before the actual ceremony."

And Kara would argue. She'd argue that she's perfectly capable of going on about Lena's many virtues without actually crying, but you know what? Her eyes are feeling just a tiny bit misty already so she's just gonna go ahead and trust Lena on this one.

"You know what I also love?" Kara presses a kiss to the pad of Lena's finger and obediently changes subjects. "Sushi. Let's go get some." Kara starts walking away from the beautiful soft pink trees and in the general direction of the street festival, tugging Lena along. She's all for the romance of blossom-watching, but she'd be lying if she said hearing about the culinary side of this whole festival hadn't excited her a bit more than that.

It's only when she hears a sigh coming from Lena that Kara's focus shifts from food to the woman next to her. That wasn't a happy sigh.

"Are you okay, baby?"

Lena smiles. It's not a fake smile, but there's a hint of something in it that isn't fully happy, either. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. It's just... between the cherry blossoms and all this talk of sushi, I guess it made me a bit nostalgic for Sendai."

"Sendai?" Kara looks at Lena with curiosity written all over her face. "What's Sendai?"

"Oh, it's a city in Japan. I lived there for a few months for an exchange when I was in college. Did I never tell you?" Kara shakes her head, her face the picture of delight at getting to learn something new about Lena. "There was this little restaurant near Tohokudai, I swear they had the best sushi in the world." Lena hums, letting her eyes flutter closed for a second like she's trying to imagine the taste. "I'd do anything for some negitoro maki from that place right about now."

Kara listens intently to her fiancée's words. She knows it's just a silly little comment. She knows Lena will be perfectly happy eating the undoubtedly delicious sushi currently being sold at the street festival. And yet.

She can't resist a chance to make Lena just that little bit happier, can she?

So Kara looks around to make sure they're not being watched, and lets go of Lena's hand. "Be right back."

"Where are you--?"

But all Lena gets is a quick kiss and a gust of wind on her face before Kara disappears.

She's only gone for a couple of minutes -- just enough for Lena to wander back towards the cherry trees -- and when she comes back she's holding a small box which she immediately presents to Lena.

"Sushi for my... sushi," Kara lets out a chuckle, her now-free hand coming up to scratch at the back of her head like she's aware she may have gone just a little bit overboard but she's hoping it won't be too much, "Sendai's beautiful, by the way."

Lena's smile is soft, and Kara has a feeling -- not to toot her own horn -- if she'd been listening she would've heard Lena's heart skip a beat.

"Kara Danvers," Lena sighs, shaking her head like that'll do anything to hide just how charmed she is right now, "you're something el-- what's that?"

"Nothing," Kara shifts slightly and puts her hand -- and the little carton box it's holding -- behind her back, fully intending on letting the focus of this moment be on her romantic gesture, but Lena raises one eyebrow and Kara loses her resolve. "Potstickers." Kara's voice is quiet as she shows Lena the box. "What? I was in the neighborhood!"

"In the neighborhood of," Lena squints slightly as she reads the words on the box, "Shanghai?"

"Well, China is next door to Japan, if you think about it."

Lena chuckles, clearly too charmed by this whole thing to even continue teasing Kara about it. "Thank you. For this. You didn't actually have to fly all the way to Japan to get my favorite sushi, but I appreciate it."

Kara shrugs, chopsticks already grabbing the first potsticker in the box. "I'd go way farther than Japan to make you happy. You know that."

"I do know," Lena nods, looking just a little thoughtful, like she's just now realizing she fully believes Kara would stop at nothing to make her happy, "you even promised when you proposed."

Lena wiggles her finger, flashing the kryptium ring that's been there for a few weeks now along with a teasing smile, and Kara can only shrug. "Well, I meant it," she says, popping the potsticker in her mouth and leaning against the trunk of a nearby cherry tree.

"I know," Lena says again, but this time she's smiling, amusement shining in her eyes, "if only Lex had figured out the one true way to have the world in the palm of your hand is to make a Kryptonian fall in love with you."

"To be fair, I really don't think your brother is Kal's type."

***

Eight hours later, they're seeing the Tidal Basin from above, the cherry blossoms looking nearly white in the moonlight. They could be in National City already, but Kara figures there's no reason why she can't take the scenic route with Lena in her arms and enjoy the view without the crowds and the bustle they experienced earlier today. Perks of being your own private jet.

"Go a bit lower, baby," Lena's voice is soft against Kara's ear, like she's afraid if she speaks too loud she'll break the spell and they won't feel like the only two people in the world anymore, "I want to see the flowers."

Kara doesn't make her wait. Lena's just been awarded an actual medal by the President, and spoiling her a little is the least Kara can do. So she dips until they're hovering just above the soft pink blossoms and then a little lower still, close enough that Lena can smell the sweet, fresh scent of Spring.

The night is clear and quiet, just cool enough for Lena to reach for Kara's cape and pull it forward to wrap it around herself. Kara holds her a little closer, just enough to hopefully provide a bit of extra warmth, and she figures it was the right move when Lena slips one arm from under Kara's cape to reach for the tree and pick a particularly pretty blossom from one of the branches that's closer to them.

Lena looks at it for a moment, twirling the little stem between her fingers like she's pondering what to do with it. And then she turns and tucks Kara's hair behind her ear, sliding the small flower between soft blond strands and smiling when she's satisfied it'll stay exactly where she wants it.

"Happy?" Kara chuckles, something soft and quiet and a little teasing because there's something equal parts amusing and endearing about Lena's perfectionism when it comes to silly little things like putting a flower in Kara's hair.

"Very."

And there's something about the way Lena smiles, more with her eyes than with her mouth, that makes Kara see, clear as day, just how serious Lena is. How sincere, when she says she's very happy.

Maybe that's why Kara gets a little transfixed just looking at her, suddenly aware of just how different this Lena -- the Lena wrapped in her arms and her cape, wearing her ring and smiling with a smile that's just Kara's -- is from the Lena she first met all those years ago.

"Kara Zor-El," Lena's voice is soft just like the sound of Kara's true name on her lips, "what are you thinking about?"

And Kara wishes she had the words to tell her. But how does she even begin to explain what she's feeling right now? How she's still the same Lena that made Kara's heart trip all over itself the first time she saw her, but she's so very different all the same time. Brighter. Lighter. Loved. God, she's so loved, and Lena knows it, finally, and that's what's different, maybe. Not just Kara's love, because Lena's had that from the very first day, probably, but the fact that Lena can feel it now.

How do you put that in words? I love you just doesn't feel like enough.

And then it hits her.

"I'm thinking," Kara smiles, cheeks pink with the knowledge that she's just been proven wrong, "about what Spring does to cherry trees."

#fic #fanfiction #supercorp fanfic #supercorp fanfiction #supercorp

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rpmemesbyarat · 4 years ago

Conversation

RP Meme from Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning: Part Two"

I'm sorry to say that the alleged entertainment you are watching is extremely unpleasant.

From the beginning of this miserable tale to the last melancholy scene, I cannot think of a single line, a single word, that does not chill me to my deepest bones.

"Why?" you may ask.

Do you know what the question I'm asked the most is?

Will you please leave the premises?

Why do I do it?

Why respond to the siren song that the Spanish call 'El Theater'?"

For fame and fortune?

For the costumes!

Where are the costumes?

Stay in the car.

Well, we've got to reach them. Try Peru.

I'm keeping an eye on things best I can

I present it to you now in the hopes that the police inspectors, concerned citizens and television executives might finally leave me alone.

I have an appointment for a haircut right now.

Well, in that case, we're going to need a map of the city.

You'll never get away with this.

I already did get away with it.

Put some elbow grease into it!

Who knows what would happen to us on the street?

At least here we have a roof over our head.

Can I warm that up for you? And also give you some very bad news?

When I was a little boy, I would have given my eyeteeth to be raised by an actor.

I have terrible friends.

It sounds like Latin.

Now, I'm sorry if I have to usher you out posthaste, but I've got work to do.

I'll have my new secretary give you a ride home as soon as he's finished typing up that report.

Shall I let them off the hook?

I spent all morning making these cupcakes for you.

They're store bought!

Aren't raspberries delicious?

I'm afraid I may have acted a bit standoffish.

I want you to participate in my next play.

It tells the story of a very handsome and good-looking man, played by me.

A pretty girl like you shouldn't be working backstage.

It's a very important role

What did you call me?

I'm not sure I'm talented enough to perform professionally.

I would prefer it if you participate voluntarily

The point is, I can order you to participate, and you must obey.

I can't stand looking at you anymore.

Killing us will do him no good.

I have never been married myself.

Are you here to continue your research?

I have quite the interest in theater, you know.

I would give up every last wig just to wear a costume.

I'm actually considering a career in law. I find those books quite fascinating.

There are countless types of books in this world, which makes good sense because there are countless types of people.

[NAME], what's happened to your face?

No, no, no, it should be delicate! Fetching!

I just think, even in changing context, that marriage is an inherently patriarchal construction

Are you leaving?

Oh, there we go, sweet girl.

Does that mean what I think it means?

It means you're going to be a star.

You have got the star quality necessary for a small walk-on role

Now, you can see it.

It's a very important part, although you won't be listed in the program.

All my life I wanted to be a bride

It's almost too good to be true.

Spend some time with your new father.

Seize the children!

I have three kinds of butter cream icing here for you to sample. One's vanilla, one has a hint of nutmeg and the other's a little lemony.

I told you never to say that word.

We'll order takeout.

Let me eat cake.

You can't just keep us in here.

What do you think will happen to you then?

I'm gonna stay up all night with a book.

The book was not at all interesting. The book was long and difficult.

What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in your room.

I was in my room all night, and I know what you're up to.

Me? I'm just having my morning coffee

If you use fancy-pants words first thing in the morning,

you're going to end up a very lonely man.

I figured out your scheme.

You don't know the difference between figuratively and literally, do you?

I'm leaping in the air because I'm very happy.

I'm so happy I could jump for joy, but I'm saving my energy for other matters.

This play won't be pretend. It'll be real and legally binding.

A man like me can acquire any number of beautiful women

What's in it for me?

Can you name me a language that was spoken by ancient Romans and is still spoken by very irritating people today?

Whatever will we do?

I guess that proves reading really is fundamental.

But I'm not old enough to get married.

It certainly is so strange to find a child missing, and one so small, so helpless.

When did you see her last?

Did you hear that? It came from outside.

Oh, you're not looking in the right place.

Oh, don't look so down.

Let her go. She's done nothing to you.

Please, she's just a baby.

Just don't harm her.

I would never, ever marry you.

Any animal owner will tell you that a stubborn mule will move toward the carrot because it wants the reward of food and away from the stick because it wants to avoid the punishment of rump pain.

Would it be so terrible to be my bride, to live in my house for the rest of your life?

You're a terrible man.

I may be a terrible man, but I have concocted a foolproof way of getting your fortune.

What have you done?

I wish I had an inventor here.

You came.

You sent for me.

Things are disastrous. Everything's gone wrong.

What went wrong?

Why would anyone listen to a consultant?

Are you free Friday night to attend the theater?

But what shall we do until then?

Could you cut these ropes for me?

You should get some sleep.

It's my turn.

I didn't help us.

You just didn't finish the job.

Let me keep my promise.

Having a brilliant idea isn't as easy as turning on a light.

But just as a single bulb can illuminate even the most depressing of rooms, the right idea can shed light on a depressing situation.

It's so wonderful that, in addition to your many talents, you have a marvelous eye for fashion.

Tell me if this is too much.

How pleasant that you could join us.

What are you gonna do with me?

It was a grappling hook.

I understand she's yours.

I'm not his bride.

You know, some people say that the hardest job in the world is raising a child.

I'll touch whatever I want.

What happened? Why are we up here?

It's so high. You must have been terrified.

I'm sorry it didn't work.

The invention worked fine. I just got caught.

You're gonna need to flip it a couple of times, like, okay?

And don't touch the baby!

Do you think you could invent something to help us escape?

I am certain that over the course of your own life, you have noticed that certain rooms reflect the personalities of the occupants.

If we had kerosene, we could make Molotov cocktails with those old wine bottles.

What are Molotov cocktails?

They're small bombs. If we throw them out the window, we could attract attention.

It's time for the big event.

Taking the role of a handsome man is certainly a brave choice.

Is it a stretch for you?

I think live theater is a much more powerful medium

than, say, streaming television.

Evil plot?

The wedding will be around 10 PM, followed by champagne toasts, reception with cake and finger food, then the after-party at the Mexican place.

All my anxieties are put to rest.

Don't distract me with idle chatter.

Get it absolutely right.

Change of plans. Sit here. Don't distract her.

Don't suppose you know how to play poker.

Would you like to deal?

I am very handsome, but I am only one man.

He's so handsome.

If I can't have him, my heart will literally break.

That can't be true!

But that piece of paper's not an official document.

I think you'll see that it is figuratively real.

I'm afraid this marriage is entirely binding.

This is absolutely horrendous. I won't allow it!

I'm afraid there's nothing you can do.

You were easily tricked!

It was child's play, winning this fortune.

You promised to let her go!

You idiot! What are you doing?

So, you escaped, you little dishrag.

Well, that doesn't count.

You're just being a sore loser and trying to ruin my special day.

You should never be afraid to admit that you don't know something.

This is a very complicated case.

It would take a formidable legal scholar to solve it.

It was thoroughly impressive and utterly convincing.

I'm even considering firing your associate

I was kidnapped

I'll get my hands on your fortune if it's the last thing I do.

You have to capture him! You have to go after him!

You let the authorities worry about that.

Sorry, but the children must come with me.

Some things in life are difficult to understand, even after years and years of thinking about them while wandering alone through desolate landscapes, usually during the off-season.

The world is quiet here.

As with so many unfortunate events in life, just because you don't understand it, doesn't mean it isn't so.

Things are worse than we thought.

Then we don't have a moment to lose.

What's a woman like you building in a place like this?

Leave no stone unturned.

#rp memes #rp meme #roleplay memes #roleplay starters #roleplay meme #a series of unfortunate events

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sanderssidesfanfiction · 4 years ago

Text

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Fifteen

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

July 13th, 1985

Remy watched the man panhandling on the island in the middle of the street with a frown. “Why’s he asking for money?” he asked.

“Because he’s homeless, or close to it, probably,” Toby told him, nudging him in the middle of the sedan.

“What does homeless mean? Like, doesn’t he have a place to live?” Remy asked.

“Not everyone does,” Toby told him.

Remy stared at Toby in shock. “Why not?!”

“Because some people are just lazy and can’t hold down a job,” his mother said from the front of the car.

Remy was stunned into silence. People would actually live...on the street, or wherever? They would be...without a house? He didn’t understand. Wouldn’t people on the street not be lazy, and want to find a place to stay?

As their car moved on, Remy sat forward again and supposed that this had to be one of those adult things that he just didn’t understand yet. He was finding a lot of those recently.

December 25th, 2000

Remy would never admit it to anyone, and especially not Emile, but he was feeling lonely. This would be his first year celebrating Christmas without his family...well, ever. And he had no idea how bone-crushing the feeling of being alone would become.

He wanted to get up, to do something, to keep busy, but most places, if not every place, was closed today because it was Christmas. He had cut off contact entirely with his parents when he moved, so he wasn’t about to call them, or even explain why he wasn’t there. Toby had a cell phone, but his number must have changed, because the voicemail on what used to be his number now sounded like a teenage girl had recorded it. In Spanish. To make matters worse, Toby hadn’t gotten Remy’s new address yet. Remy had called him the day they had finally finished the move, only to hear that infernal message in Spanish. He had called the number once or twice since, but the voicemail remained the same.

Today, feeling particularly lonely, he called up the phone once more out of curiosity, but instead of getting that voicemail, he actually got someone picking up. “Hello?” the girl asked, accent thick. “Who is this?”

“Oh, nobody,” Remy sighed. “I thought this was my brother’s number.”

“I only got this number the beginning of the month,” the girl said. “It must have belonged to your brother before.”

“Must have,” Remy echoed hollowly.

“I am sorry,” she said. “I wish I could help you more.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve heard of a Toby Picani?” Remy asked.

“No. Is that your brother’s name?” she asked.

“Yeah, that’s my brother.”

“There was a woman constantly calling me when I first got the number. Speaking about how she was meant to be with your Toby. After I answered her calls instead of letting it go to voicemail, she stopped calling. But he must have changed his number because of her,” the girl paused. “I hope you have a Merry Christmas.”

Remy choked on a laugh. “Yeah, you too. Merry Christmas.”

The girl hung up and Remy did the same. He pressed his phone against his forehead. His number had changed after he got off his parents’ plan. It wasn’t like Toby could call him, and he didn’t have Toby’s number, and he didn’t know where Toby was going to school. He hadn’t thought to ask for the address at Thanksgiving.

Tears burned his eyes like fire and he silently sobbed. All he wanted to do was talk to his brother, was that too much to ask? Apparently. He stood up abruptly and went to his room, screaming into a pillow as tears scorched down his face. He took a deep breath, and then another. He looked around his room, desperate for something, anything, to do.

Emile must have gotten his gift last night; he told Remy that his family opened presents on Christmas Eve. What he didn’t realize was that Remy had saved up a little extra money, enough to afford a crappy old TV and a slightly newer VHS reader. Well, not immediately. He’d be able to afford them tomorrow, when the after-Christmas sales started. But when Emile came back, January second, he’d be able to watch She-Ra to his heart’s content.

Despite himself, Remy smiled. Emile was adorable when he got excited about something. He sincerely hoped that Emile never lost that enthusiasm, even if it had to be over something as dorky as cartoons. But Remy would be able to watch sports whenever the mood struck, and Emile would get to watch his cartoons, and everything would be okay in the end. Or at least, as okay as anything could be. He still couldn’t call Toby, and he couldn’t write, and asking his parents would be completely pointless. Vanessa would undoubtedly just tell his parents where Remy now lived and what he was doing, so she wasn’t an option.

Wow, he really should have gone to hang out with Emile, even if he knew absolutely none of Emile’s family. That would have been less depressing than this. How pathetic was he, sitting alone in his bedroom, in his empty apartment, crying over the fact that he had lost contact with his brother?

He stood up, grabbing his jacket, putting his cell phone in his pocket, and headed out on a walk after locking the apartment. He had no idea where he was going, but he couldn’t sit still any longer.

The weather was freezing, most likely in the literal sense. Remy shivered, despite wearing the coat that had actual insulation rather than his typical leather jacket. And Emile could mock him for wearing that thing all he wanted, but that would not stop Remy from wearing it. It was a comfort, in addition to fitting in exactly with his preferred aesthetic. What he would have loved, though, was a leather jacket with actual insulation, like fleece or something, on the inside, for when winter came around. He couldn’t just keep on like this and not be able to wear his favorite jacket when the snow started falling. It wasn’t fair that he had to drop his aesthetic for practicality.

As he continued to walk, he noticed he was approaching the local homeless shelter. He rolled his shoulders and sighed. Sure, it wasn't exactly what he had planned when he woke up this morning, but it had to be something, didn’t it? Helping other people always made Emile happy, and maybe it could do the same thing to Remy.

He walked into the shelter, finding a majority of the tables full of people, in various stages of disarray. “Can I help you?” an unfamiliar voice asked him.

Remy turned to find an older man looking him over. “Uh, maybe?” Remy asked. “I was wondering if there was...um...any way for me to help out today? I was...I was kinda walking around, and I saw this place, and I figured, well, maybe I could help in some way, you know?”

The man smiled at him. “Well, we could use one or two people in the kitchen. Most of our volunteers are out of town.”

“Okay,” Remy said. “What do you need me to do?”

The old man motioned for Remy to follow him, and Remy did so. “All I need you to do is pass out meals to the people who come in and ask for them. We haven’t quite gotten to when we give away lunch, most of the people in here are waiting for it. I can have someone else cook the meals, so you don't have to worry about burning anything.”

“Uh...thanks,” Remy laughed. “I’m afraid I’m not much of an enthusiastic cook on the best of days. Too much work, most of the time.”

The old man smiled at him. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever volunteered at a place like this before?”

“Uh, no. Not really,” Remy admitted.

“I thought not,” the old man said. “But that’s okay, we all have to start somewhere.”

“Yeah...” Remy said.

The old man looked him over. “Not much of a talker, are you?”

“Not usually, no,” Remy said. “Not around people I’m not familiar with.”

“Well, a lot of the volunteers here would press you to talk, but if you tell them you’re not comfortable talking, most of them should leave you alone. As always, there are a few persistent people, but if you tell them to back off enough times, they will,” the man said.

“Not always,” Remy laughed. “I live with my best friend, and the only reason he’s my best friend is because he wouldn’t leave me alone for a while after we first met.”

“Huh,” the old man said. “There’s a regular volunteer here, Emile, who has a similar story, from the other perspective. You wouldn’t happen to be Remy?”

“That’s me,” Remy said. “Emile volunteers here?”

“He helps the kids with their homework sometimes. It started usually when his best friend was busy with work, and he couldn’t stand an empty apartment. But once a week became twice, and twice became three times, and now he usually comes around some time between when school lets out and seven or so, to help the kids who are struggling,” the old man said. “He said that he thought you’d never be caught dead here.”

Remy turned red. “Usually, he’d be right,” Remy said, ducking his head. “I didn’t have any plans to come here. I just couldn’t stand the empty apartment, like he couldn’t, and I started walking, and I wound up here.”

The old man stopped at a back door and smiled at Remy. “Well, I am very glad you did. If you don’t mind working here, you might even find yourself coming back.”

Remy shrugged. “I really don’t know. I don’t know what any of this entails, so I don’t know if it’s for me or not.”

“Well, you’ll find out soon enough,” the man said, pushing open the door and walking in to a kitchen. “Put on a hair net and gloves,” he instructed. “I can show you the ropes from there.”

“Bernie!” a young woman called. “Are we starting up lunch yet?”

“Five minutes!” Bernie called back. “We have a new volunteer, and he needs to get ready!”

“A new...on Christmas?! We never get new volunteers on Christmas!” she said, walking over.

Remy snapped a hair net over his head and tugged on gloves.

“We do today,” Bernie said. “You know Emile’s friend?”

“Yeah, the one who he’s always saying would never show up here, even if he needed the help instead of giving it?” she asked, cocking a hip.

“Well, he was wrong,” Bernie said. “Remy, this is Amelia. She’ll teach you the song and dance of passing out food.”

“Okay,” Remy said, following her to the front of the kitchen, where plates and food were stacking up. “Okay, confession time...I have never done this before in my life, what do I do?” he asked her.

“Just make plates based on what each person wants. Sometimes they’ll tell you, sometimes they’ll point if English isn’t their first language. One main dish for each person, and two sides, plus a desert, if they want it,” Amelia said.

Remy looked at the food waiting for them, and looked over to where two guys were joking as they cooked more. “Do you really have enough food for that?”

“We scrape by,” Amelia said. “It’s first-come first-served. Usually we have just enough to last the hour and a half we offer lunch.”

Remy cleared his throat. “That sounds...difficult,” he said.

“It is,” she said. “But we manage. You’ll catch on fast enough, if you’re anything like Emile says you are, you’re a quick study.”

“I mean I guess...?” Remy said.

“Well, we’re about to find out,” Amelia said. She rang a bell that was resting on top of the display, and people started rushing over to get food.

Remy found himself busy enough that all thoughts of his family and his current situation left his mind. But he also found himself busy enough that he was barely scraping by to get everyone their food, and he was a barista two times over! Everyone was civil enough, but he barely had enough time to pass out one plate before the next person was already ordering.

When lunch was over, the volunteers all left the kitchen, but Bernie stopped Remy before he could follow the others to wherever they were headed. “Emile was asking me to keep something here,” he told Remy. “He said it was a surprise for you, and he said that if on the off-chance you did show up here, I could give it to you before he got back.”

Confused, Remy followed Bernie to a back office. He was handed a package covered in Peanuts wrapping paper, and Remy muttered, “Of course,” with an eye roll and a smile. He tore into it to find...a new jacket. It was similar to the leather one he had at home, but this one was lined with thick fleece. “Unbelievable,” he said. “How did he know?!”

“He said you mentioned it in passing while the two of you were walking around town,” Bernie said. “He picks up on details like that.”

Remy held the jacket close and could feel himself getting weepy. “I don’t know how to thank him,” he muttered.

“And that’s his Christmas present to you,” Bernie said. “He said he had a surprise for your birthday planned, as well.”

“I...what?!” Remy asked in shock.

“He said your birthday was New Year’s Eve?” Bernie asked. At Remy’s nod, he said, “Well, I know he had something planned for that. Don’t know what it is, but keep an eye out.”

Remy was shocked. Yeah, Emile was generous, he supposed, but this almost seemed like too much. He had no idea what that surprise was, but he knew he’d be lucky, whatever it was. Emile would make sure he felt special. That’s just what he did. Remy really didn’t deserve him.

#if there's a place i could be #sanders sides fanfiction #remile #Emile Picani #ts sleep

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chavire · 4 years ago

Photo

We answered a few questions about the band during quarantine, for the spanish fanzine Face The Lie. As we were pretty excited about the questions and thought it could have some interest, here it is in its english version.

(photo : Manon Monjaret)

Hi guys! How are you doing? Before starting maybe we should put ourselves in a situation. Who are Chaviré? In which other bands do you play or have you played? What motivates you to tour, make songs?

Hi, thank you for giving us some space to talk about CHAVIRÉ and what we put behind this band. As a presentation, we could say that the band started at the end of 2013 and that we played our first shows at the end of the next year, in 2014. We previously played — or still play — in A.S.T.R.O., COLD HEART DAYS, DÉDALE, GHOST FRIENDS, HOMESICK and WATERTANK to name some of our other bands. We started to play together as some friends, convinced by our love for the same songs and the desire to bind them with some politics we felt connected with. Six years later, it is still those three main reasons that hold us together, writing songs and play them live.

Last summer you released your new album, titled Maintenant Que Les Flammes Sont Partout ("now that flames are everywhere"). What did you wanted to express with this title? And what can you tell us about this album?

We tried to give this record a title that would be the testimony of the era that surrounded its creation. We think it's pretty clear for everyone who looked at the world around us that we couldn't possibly spend three months without seeing the people from a country rising up against their leaders and taking the streets against them. We wanted to dedicate the album to those involved in the increase of those flames all around the world and sing for their constant multiplication.

The lyrics of this album seem to me a bit more convoluted than those of your previous albums, you have to give them more readings to understand them. Did you wanted to change your way of composing the lyrics or was it an involuntary evolution?

As usual, our lyrics are very influenced by the books and authors that go with the writing process. You are right saying that maybe it is a bit different from the previous records. We always said that the lyrics were very influenced by some texts and that we stole a lot to put it in our songs. This time it's still the case but we tried to give some more space to poetry and theater. As time goes by, we were a bit scared to look like those anarchist bands that repeat slogans song after song... We are glad to hear that you noticed this change of things, it is obvious to say that there is politics everywhere but it is better to show it, by using an unexpected extract of a anthropologic book or some lines from a poem. For the first time with this record, we tried to quote most of the references so maybe it will give some ideas and things to dig in.

What is the story or background behind "Alice, 1977"?

Radio Alice is an Italian radio from the end of the 1970s located in Bologna. It's closely linked with the italian autonomous movement from the same era and more precisely the A/Traverso collective. The quotation «Le pouvoir n'est pas seulement là où se prennent des décisions horribles, mais partout où le discours enlève le corps, la rage, le hurlement, le geste de vivre» comes directly from an A/Traverso leaflet. Overall, the song was written in opposition with some of the quirks of the communities that surround us, where it is more valuable to look radical, rather than actively trying to change the world. At some point in the italian movement, there was this turning point where it didn't make sense for some of them to claim their worker identity, their women identity, mostly because all of these categories were those of the power, of this world, and these communities wanted to split up with this world and its categories.

With “Alice, 1977”, the idea was to put this era to the attention of people who perhaps don't know it, allowing them to find some inspiration in it. Most of the questions we're passing through are obviously not new, and it was in our opinion a political sequence where these questions found some interesting treatment.

What does CHAVIRÉ mean?

It could be translated in english as “capsized”, it refers to the moment right after a boat has overturned. We won't lie, this name is at first the result of a joke, more or less.

One of the things that surprised me in a good way when I first knew about you was that you didn't have Facebook, but instead you have a Tumblr page with, in addition to information about the band, a lot of political texts. Do you just don’t care about Facebook and those networks? Why did you chose Tumblr?

We “chose” to make a Tumblr page at first because it seemed to be the easiest thing to put something a bit more “personal” than just a Bandcamp page. Moreover we were so unable to manage a website by ourselves, and none of our close friends seemed able to build one that we could manage easily... In fact, the way we decided to be visible on the Internet has been very determined by our poor capacities and the fact that we decided, since the beginning of the band, that we preferred to make us visible only when we had something to say rather than just be here to be here — it is pointless to try to tackle professional rock bands in this game, doesn't it? And yet, we recently created an instagram account... We also wanted to upset some diehards from the other side!

What do you think of the term emocore? For you, when does a group cross the hardcore barrier to enter emocore? Is it a matter of lyrics, sound, attitude,...?

Well, it's just a subgenre doesn't it? The barrier is just crossed when the one who makes the poster decides to call a band this way. It has been historically a way to gather bands that were playing at the same time from the same area (for the Revolution Summer it basically works like this), but at some point, it is a way to play punk music.

It was said about you that you take music too seriously, belittling those who play only for having a good time without sending a message. Don't you conceive how someone can do it or is it simply not your thing? Do you have friend bands like that?

Well, if music obviously contains a game aspect — who would deny it? —, we would rather play it with smart people. It's not about any kind of content or attitude, it is mostly about having the feeling that we share more with some bands than some chords or shirts. We are still sorry for those who felt judged by us, we couldn't fill the lack of interest they seem to have for themselves, and at some point we still can't understand why they needed our approval so much.

Do you conceive a hardcore scene without politicizing? And a DIY without a political background?

We have to be careful with this sentence that repeats to anyone who would listen that “personal is political”: the recent history proved us that it led us to believe that we just had to buy at organic stores and not to say swear words to become a potential ally for an ongoing revolution, to simplify. But music contains this interesting idea that it can't be undone from its whole production process: its material production obviously (from gear to electricity), but mostly because its production is tied in a network (people who play, who release, who book to make it easy), under technical and aesthetically pleasing considerations (how do we want to sound? do we play well enough? does the interpretation fit to the idea?). At some point, the choices and the answers to those questions imply to get you into some positions that translate political views about the world. Depending on how they fit with others, it can create friendships and even “scenes”. In order to answer your initial question, we could say that obviously we do conceive a scene without politicizing (but it is even more than that, we'd rather say “with views about the world that are radically different from ours”), the question consequently becomes “do we have something to share together then?” and it is immediately easier to answer.

In Maintenant Que Les Flammes Sont Partout you included a song about May 68, something that lately interests me a lot. How influential is this and the situationist movement today?

There is a very tenuous link between the uprising of May 68 in French universities and the Situationist International, as you may already know it. It is hard to fully understand why, but a part of this relation seems a bit forgotten today in the official history, one of the main reason is to be found in the fact that Situationists refused to be represented as leaders, as opposed to some figures at this time. Fortunately, Kristin Ross relates this incomplete story in her fascinating book May '68 and Its Afterlives, talking about how this political sequence has been erased and captured by the freshly reshaped neoliberalism to present it as a liberal and individual revolution. As we already said for the autonomous movement that took place in Italy during the second part of the '70s, these moments are very inspiring and rich in lessons. They refer to insurrectionary times when the power could really be overthrown.

In the case of the Situationist International, it's important to understand that since the late '50s the group theorized and wrote about the reconfigurations of the post-war capitalism, and the advent of the consumer society which really arose at this moment. It was a moment of radical artistic avant-gardes: Antonin Artaud just died ten years before, the surrealist and lettrist movements were still recent experiences for the situationists, the Beat Generation was experiencing overseas and this artistic emulation gave them paths to explore and to renew the forms of art without separating it from the revolutionary horizon.

With these months that have passed since the appearance of the Mouvement des gilets jaunes, what balance do you make of it?

We lived something that could be considered as the most unsettling political event of the decade or even more, with the appearance of this gilets jaunes movement last year. Still today, it is hard to gauge the political and existential impact created by the outbreak of these yellow vests on some roundabouts in the November dawn. We're not overplaying it by saying that they helped to re-draw the lines of the political division, in that they opposed the revolutionary action to the revolutionary posture and bliss, and proved us that revolution was a question of desire instead of a rational one. For a part, they were people that never took part in radical politics as we can understand it, that never attended a demonstration or organized a strike, etc. In some areas they created what could be considered as communes, existing as a community in a world — this unbearable fiction — that had always made them existing as individuals.

It seems that in the whole world people are waking up and taking back the streets seriously. Either in Chile, Venezuela, or in France itself. Have we reached the maximum pressure point for people to explode?

We took so long answering this interview that in the meantime Lebanon went up in flames too, and while most of these countries were facing some major representation crisis with the whole institutional politics, a virus sent us back in our respective homes as separated individuals. We're insisting on the concept of “individual” because it's fundamental to understand that this category is a pretty recent one that has emerged with the modern definition of “society”. It's very clear now that both the “individual” and the “society” have emerged in order to defeat communities that were an ungovernable model for the powers, or at least less easily governable in that they were indivisible entities. We have to consider the return of this hypothesis after two hundred years of capitalism, the need of community (this is basically what communism is all about) comes back to the point, by every means, and the people go out, fight the police, and take the streets.

I read that in your first concerts you distributed sheets with the lyrics and explanations. Do you keep doing it? What was the reason, make clear parts that were open to various interpretations, expand information on the subject or try to make people really listen to what you have to say?

We distributed our lyrics for quite a long time, but to be honest we haven't done it for a while. This move was influenced by some bands before us, mostly from this first french emo wave with band that used to do so. The idea was to put the lyrics right in front of the audience, as something we could claimed but also as a starting point to talk about. One of the reason that led us to stop was also the idea that there are other ways to “talk”: gesture, music and intensity that can become languages when we start to take them seriously and make a good use of it, they can convey things that words sometimes cannot.

Do you read / do fanzines? What importance do you give them in the hardcore / anarchist scene? Lately I have heard more than one person saying that it isn’t coherent to continue to make fanzines on paper and contributing to the environmental impact having such powerful networks which reach as many people as the Internet. What do you think of this?

Some of us used to write fanzines back in the days, and we also have to recognize that after have been serious fanzine-readers we're less curious these days. Because of it, we are tempted to say that there are less issues than a few years ago, which is probably wrong and mostly influenced by the fact that we don't really dig in. We talked above of this idea of “network”, and fanzines do participate from this idea that autonomy should be earned everywhere it is possible. At some point, we could say that there is victory everytime a fanzine can bypass the traditional plan established by the music industry.

About the fact that 200 printed zines could possibly contribute to the environmental impact, well... maybe some people should try to think about how “green” their online datas are, in fact it really is a stupid accusation. Once again it mostly lies on the idea that politics is an affair of separated individuals doing their own parts more or less, which is the one of the lies of the liberalism. We can continue to pee while taking a shower and turning the lights off when leaving a room, it's pointless if we don't take seriously the idea of overthrowing economy and industries.

Related to the previous question, what is your opinion of the Internet? Does it make us better or worse?

Do you really think that four guys who have a hell of a job creating a Tumblr page could have any useful opinion on this internet thing?

A few days ago a friend told me that if one day I go to France I must go to Nantes, because it is the best city in the state. What happens in Nantes to have earned such fame? Is it really that cool? Because one of the things that you talk about on your album Interstices is about the feeling of apathy generated by living in a gentrified and clonic city, isn't it? What good things happen in your city?

With Interstices, we wanted to summarize what creates this unified feeling from one metropolis to another, from almost every gentrified city center. This is the fascinating thing with the metropolis paradox: on this captured-by-control-dispositives territory, there are at the same time desertion acts and zones that try to re-think autonomy and rooms of manoeuvre. What makes Nantes pretty specific at some point is this relation between the city center and its countryside. In fact we can't fully understand what makes this city special without talking of the well-known ZAD of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes right? Everybody knows it for the resistance against the airport that was supposed to be built there (and that will never be) but the thing is that the ZAD was, and still is, a territory fighting for its material autonomy, which tries to bind metropolitan resistances with the experience of building a form-of-life from the community: an attempt to build a commune for real.

Three of us have lived in Nantes for almost ten years now. Is the city really hype these days? It is hard to tell in our cases, we're living there and cannot really take this stance to measure the impact from elsewhere. Let's just say that this is a city with many secret stories, artistic and political ones, and since we're living in Nantes we felt connected to some of them and tried to take part of. I guess this is what holds us here. In concrete terms, we could talk about La Dérive which is a bar and a community canteen we're involved in. It's a place where you can drink, eat, attend a book presentation or a movie or just come to play chess with a friend. There are places like Les Ateliers de Bitche where you can attend nice shows, and La Commune de Dalby Football Club to play football on Sunday afternoon with some friends.

In your Tumblr you include a very interesting text about the pros and cons of the free price. It attracts me a lot, because besides allowing anyone to feel excluded based on their economy, it empowers you in the process and makes you abandon the role of passive consumer, but I share the opinion that if it becomes institutionalized and becomes something systematic it can lose the critical and anti-capitalist background. Have you set or have you considered putting your albums and merch at free price?

When we first read this text about donation in Maximum Cuvette (a french zine from Grenoble), we thought it was smart enough to practically ask the question of the economy inside a microcosm that tends to get rid of it, to examine the institutional process always contained in economy and at the same time how this “name your price” thing could bypass the rigidity always contained in standard economy. You're absolutely right and the text says so, at some point donations can feed the illusion that we got rid of the economy which is obviously a lie, it is just an attempt to manage with its rigidity but under a re-institutionalized form: this is never enough and it is important to be aware that donations are just a way to make the best of the situation.

Since we started CHAVIRÉ, our merch as always been on donation. It was at first the easiest way to manage with selling merch to us. We talk about it together from time to time, we sometimes evoke the idea to sell merch at a flexible-fixed-price, like “a record costs 10€, if you really can't afford it, well, less is fine too”. For now we keep it this way, also because it became a kind of a habit, but to be honest this donation thing is so ritualized around us that it often works as a disguised fixed price, and does not really empowers anyone at the merch table because almost everyone there can afford what you sale. To be honest, we're more and more lax with our whole merch stuff and barely see the point in having five different shirt models and buttons and patches and so on mostly because we're not really into it anymore...

Many times I feel frustrated in some way by trying to explain the operation and ethics of DIY to people who are not involved in it. How would you explain this?

Well, we would point at the fact that the ethics behind the whole DIY thing in punk community is mostly based on the increase of a practical autonomy. This is mostly about what DIY should be all about, the growth of a network that could exist by itself, for itself without depending on any power or institution. This idea of a proper existence is important, because it implies some requirements with ourselves trying to build something that is not just an “alternative”, a counter-model based on a mirror effect from the cultural institutions, because this just reinforces the legitimacy of it, putting us back to the margins. When this is said, we didn't say much, but let's keep in mind that the operation led by DIY is one of the many attempts where autonomy is experienced (we talked about the ZAD and the late '70s Italy already, there are many examples). These autonomous experiences can be sometimes hard to translate with words, most of the time they are understood when they're lived, when they overtake the words to become perceptible, incarnate. In fact, the words can't describe the mixed feelings of joy, mutual requirement, friendship of these autonomous attempts that hold people together, how can it be explained as something else than the promise of a fast-track life?

You have made some very cool ripoffs of Orchid, Embrace, Portraits Of Past, ... for stickers and merch. Do you have any more in mind?

Let's say we have already done way too much of them for just one band. So everyone knows that we have great tastes and that we're not too bad at Photoshop (s/o to our best ripoff that you did not mentioned which was a Chanel one), but it has to stop now!

In addition your flyers, covers, "logos" like the (A) made of flowers are very worked up and for me they have very good taste. Do you take care of this or do you entrust it to friends? Which graphic artists inspire you the most?

For sure this whole artwork thing is something that matters to us, we wouldn't deny it. But it is pretty clear that it has evolved a lot since the moment we started the band from things more “traditional” — not to say expected, such as the combo of typewriter font and linocut drawings which is the perfect example — to more personal artwork: since the last record, the Atelier McClane duo took care of the whole graphic thing to tie the images with the sound and the words. Some of us have an interest in visual arts and we have friends who consider that any revolutionary act will need to find its own form, which implies to think about its graphic one. Let's just mention the work of the Atelier McClane obviously but the Capital Taboulé collective from Rennes too, the Super Terrain collective from Nantes, Bonjour Grisaille and the Atelier Summercity from Brest, Marine Le Thellec from Marseille to talk about our friends and favourite ones. We couldn't end this list without also mentioning Hugues Pzzl who made the artwork of Interstices and our split with BASTOS, and who contributed a lot to renew the visual forms of the punk scene in France — a renewal that was so much needed.

Which situations, books, movies, people, actions, bands have inspired you the most, both to do things with Chaviré and to do things on your personal life?

This is always a touchy question, fortunately we left as much references as possible in the whole interview that could be used as a part of the answer. And obviously we'll be happy to develop if anyone wants to know more, our mailbox is always open!

What are you most keen on to lately? What do you like to do in your free time? What frees you from everyday boredom?

Since we are, as a large part of the world population, currently cloistered home while answering this interview, we have plenty of this free time you're talking about. Here in France, it's been a month of quarantine and we mostly spent it separated from each other but with friends and families. We tried to take advantage of the situation writing new songs, sharing playlists and movie recommendations, keeping in touch together. We don't know when the zine will be out but this moment is very decisive and we have to be really attentive, in order to act as soon as it will be possible. A few weeks ago, an absolutely incredible text entitled “Monologue du virus” has been published in the French media Lundi Matin and has since been translated in various languages (https://lundi.am/What-the-virus-said). Recently we also discovered the Leftove.rs archives (https://leftove.rs) which is an incredible database about autonomy with many leaflets, zines and books from pretty much everywhere around the world.

Future plans?

Improving dad skills.

Doing more muay thai.

Getting degrees.

So far, thank you very much for the patience of answering all this! Anything else to add? See you, hugs!

Thanks again for sending this absolutely fascinating interview, which is hands down one of the most interesting we've ever answered to. Hope we've been precise enough, feel free to write us if it's not the case in these troubled times.

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inmyarmswrappedin · 4 years ago

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i've always found this one incredibly cheesy and very easy to do wrong so, the girls fight scene in s1

Hi Ela 🌺 I love that you've asked me this, but ngl I'm not sure that I can give a satisfying answer. My cheese-o-meter needs, like, a serious amount of lactose to get moving. I mean, I answer my asks with a cute emoji after a greeting, I'm not sure I get to call out the fight scenes' cheesiness.

But I did watch all of them and I have a few comments:

Skam - Honestly the song is so well-chosen for the scene and the choreography that I had to watch the scene a second time because the first time I got distracted by just how fun it is to watch.

Skam France - This version is the cheesiest for me. I have no issue with choosing classical music for the fight, but I wish they'd gone with something more hardcore, in the style of Ride of the Valkyries or O Fortuna, because it is portrayed as a full on fight. My other problem with the scene is that Philippine Stindel just... isn't good at portraying Emma, not in s1. So where you could see Eva was devastated not just by the fight but by Iben calling her a fucking wh*r* and the fact that it all happened so publicly... Philippine is the go girl, give us nothing! meme. Literally every other girl in the squad emotes more than her and seems more shaken by the fight than she is.

I also didn't think the fight was well choreographed or shot, I really have no idea what's going on for most of it.

Druck - I think the song in this instance is well chosen, and the choreography is good too, there are a lot of individual shots where we can see how each girls throws down. I also have to shout out a couple of details, such as Jule handing off her bag to one of her friends before she comes for Hanna's life, as well as having a fourth girl come in from the rear.

Skam Italia - The one thing I have to say about this scene is that for weeks Italian fans were hoping that the Latin dictionary came out to play for this scene, as it’s a thick book that can do some damage. And Italian Sana did indeed use it to beat down a girl, which resulted in much rejoicing.

Skam Austin - Iiii don’t like this scene. Not because it isn’t well shot or choreographed or the music sucks or it’s cheesy. My main issue is no way this would happen at a US high school without everyone involved getting suspended. US high schools are hardcore about student behavior, and it’s only gotten progressively more strict with time (because of gun violence). In particular, the fact that a school club (Kelsey’s dance team) was involved, would mean that the dance team would be disbanded, because they don’t even have a history at the school and all five members participated in the fight. This is one scene where Julie just didn’t have the cultural insight. It should’ve taken place literally anywhere else.

But I also feel like the music reflected Megan’s feelings more than the actual fight, which again, not sure I’m into when it is actually a full blown fight.

On the plus side I will highlight Zoya yelling, “Run up then, bitch!”

Skam España - Honestly, I don’t think the team wanted to do a full on fight, so they kinda didn’t. And I know people have issues with the song they chose, since it’s slow and it doesn’t go with a fight, but like... What fight, though? Lara slapped Eva and then was pulled away by like five different people lol. And the violence isn’t even the point of it, but rather Eva feeling like the jig is up after Jorge realizes what happened. (Which is what the lyrics are about, but that’s a bonus for people who understand Spanish.) Idk... I have emphasized that the songs chosen for other versions don’t work when it’s a huge fight, but in the case of eskam, the emotions are all more complicated because it’s not just the girl squad, but also Jorge and Lucas (who heard the whole thing from Eva earlier in the episode). There are some eskam scenes where I haven’t liked how they were adapted, but this one I do like.

Points for Cris coming in late (because she was hooking up with that other girl) and being all, “wtf happened???”

And as an additional note, the team then drove the point home that the slow song was only happening in Eva’s head, by having Inés post a video that she was ostensibly sent by someone who was at the party, and we can hear that the song that was actually playing during the fight was Better Now. Also, you gotta love the Queen Bitch move of publicizing the humiliation for anyone who missed it. Inés really ate that revenge cold over and over and over again.

Skam NL - Funnily enough the fight clip illustrates my major gripe with Skam NL and it is that Skam NL hugely relies on knowledge of Skam to make sense plot-wise. I will go in more detail in another scene ask, but in most other remakes, the girls explain that the Penetrator Chris’ girlfriend found out his boyfriend cheated on her with the Eva, or in the case of eskam, Lara spells it out for us. Here, Engel is barely done feeling sorry for herself before Gijs’ gf and her squad cuts in and knees Isa’s crotch. And if you’ve seen seven other versions of this scene, you know that’s P-Chris’ gf and she found out Eva made out wih her bf, but if it’s your first time watching? I can guarantee most people have no idea who this girl, who we previously saw once, in a costume, even is.

But I do like that Isa fights back, because I think it goes with her personality. The song choice is fine, but it made me wish they’d used Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy instead.

WTFock - This scene gave me the weirdest feeling that Marie didn’t actually intend to come for Jana’s whole career, but to just kind of send her a warning? Like in some of the other versions, I get the feeling the Iben is ready to punch the teeth out of the Eva’s mouth, but the whole vibe of this scene gave me a kind of drive-by shooting vibe, like their hearts weren’t really into it. I think it’s the way they don’t really need much physical force to be pulled off the girl squad. So I would say this is another remake where the fight didn’t really work the way it did in Skam, even though they actually reused the song from the original clip. (Die Antwoord’s Baby’s on Fire.) Adding to the lackluster effect there is the issue that this clip doesn’t close the week as in Skam, and it definitely doesn’t feel like an episode ender. It’s the first clip of the week. Druck also had a clip after their fight (that was back when Druck didn’t know wtf it was doing), but the fight itself still felt like an episode ender.

I think that rando giving Zoë her beret back was a fun detail though.

#ask #norgestan #skam france #skam italia #druck #skam austin #skam españa #skam nl #wtfock #I'm finally getting around to these #cherrymoonvol6

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aceonice · 4 years ago

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Hello, I've never done that before, but I would like to give you a prompt from the list: 22. Space AU + 18. Circus AU with Magnus Bane, Ragnor, Cat, Raphael and others of Magnus found family. I wouldn't say no to Malec either. But I like the focus on family and friendships. Uhm. I hope I did this right. I don't have a Tumblr site, but I'm Sashy on ao3.. Any way. Have a good day/night.

Sorry this took a while, but I’m so slow with prompts oops. Anyways, enjoy “Space Circus On Edom (Surprisingly It's Not A Crack Fic)” below or read on AO3.

When Magnus finds Camille cheating on him, he does what he does best. He runs.

He doesn’t know where he’s going when he storms out of the apartment, his stuff thrown haphazardly into a duffle bag, but he knows he can’t stay there any longer. He’s considering buying the first flight he can find out of New Manchester when he stumbles across a worn poster. It’s torn at the edges and stained from rain, but the words are still bright, if slightly blurred, and it catches Magnus’ attention.

Got An Interesting Talent?

Audition for the Space Circus!

Competitive salary with free room and board.

Experiences you won’t find anywhere else!

Call the number below for more information.

Magnus has never been to space despite his continuous travels. At twenty-three he’s seen almost every part of the earth, but something (usually money) always kept him from the space cruises.

Now he pauses, runs a finger along the poster, feeling the torn edges and wondering if they’re still looking for performers.

He’s not sure anywhere is far enough away from Camille, but space is probably his best bet. He programs the number into his phone and makes the call.

A day later Magnus takes the bullet train to Old London to audition. The entirety of his belongings, nothing more than the duffle bag he’d packed when he left the apartment. He knows that even if he doesn’t get into the Space Circus, he’s not going back. There’s nothing left for him in New Manchester.

But he does get in. The interviewers, long-time performers and high-ups in the lucrative industry, appreciate his ability to throw flaming batons while dancing around the room to an upbeat song, not missing a step.

He’d never put his talents together in that way, but he’d picked up juggling when he was twelve and living in New New York, an entirely man-made island built over where the state had sunk into the sea nearly a century ago. Then, at fifteen, he’d joined a dancing group for a year while visiting Spain. He’d continued learning on his own ever since.

A week of practice was all it took for him to put together a routine impressive enough to get him a place in the circus aboard the Edom Spacecraft. It makes him wonder if they’re truly desperate of if he’s more talented than he believed, and he chooses to think it’s a combination of the two.

It only took another day after auditions before Magnus had signed all of the paperwork and read all about Edom. It was one of the most popular space crafts in the Space Circus industry. Edom was one of the many crafts that provided entertainment filled cruises to the moon and back, each trip lasting five weeks in totality. Magnus would be preforming five days a week for four weeks out of the cruise with the rest of the circus, having two days off as well as the week for which they were on the moon.

It’s a surreal experience being loaded into a pod ship with another new recruit, the pod set on an automatic course for Edom. They’re joining a week late, the craft already a week into its route the moon, but the hiring managers had been desperate for more performers. Something about someone getting horribly motion sick and having to leave, throwing the circus into disarray.

Magnus takes a moment to study the inky blackness of space as they cross out of Earth’s atmosphere, the stars sparkling in the distance, the planet getting gradually smaller below them. He thinks perhaps he should feel sad to leave it behind, all of the people on earth, all of the places he’s been, all of the memories he’s made. He mostly feels excited and a little nervous. There will be people on Edom- only around three thousand compared to earth’s nine million- and there will be chances to make new memories. He thinks he might miss the greenery, the plant life and the scenery, but it’s been replaced with the sight of space and he can’t find himself to be disappointed in that.

There was never much keeping him on earth anyways. The thought itself makes him a bit sad so, rather than focusing on that, Magnus turns to the man beside him.

He looks barely old enough for space travel, meaning he’s at least seventeen. His hair is cropped short and his lips are pursed tightly together. He could be a statue for how much he moves.

Magnus sticks out a hand, the black polish on his nails chipped away from the fresh application he’d done before the audition. “Magnus Bane.”

The kid studies him for a moment with a cool gaze before reluctantly shaking the proffered hand, his grip solid. “Raphael Santiago.”

He has a slight Spanish accent that Magnus picks up on. “What’s your act?”

A hint of a smirk crosses Raphael’s lips. “I’m a knife thrower.”

Magnus raises an eyebrow. “Are you good?”

“I haven’t killed anyone yet,” Raphael says dryly. “What do you do?”

“I dance and throw fire.” Which, now that Magnus thinks about it, is probably the coolest profession he’s ever had. And it’s in space. It’ll certainly diversify his already staggered résumé.

Raphael glances at his hands. “Have you ever burnt yourself?”

Magnus snorts at the question, turning his hands over to show his palms. A scar crosses the palm of his right hand, but they’re free of burns. “I use cold fire, just in case. It’s safer.”

“Boring,” Raphael mutters, but there’s a spark in his eye that suggests he’s interested.

They make easy conversation the rest of the ride, blatantly avoiding any talk of their pasts. It becomes abundantly clear to Magnus that he’s not the only one running away from something.

When their pod lands in the hangar of the spacecraft, a woman with dark skin a kind smile greets them at the entrance. “Hi, welcome to Edom! I’m Catarina, but everyone calls me Cat. I’ll be working with you in the circus. I’m supposed to show you to your rooms and then to the dining hall so you can get acquainted with everyone. Actual training won’t start till tomorrow.”

She shakes Raphael’s hand and then Magnus’ as they introduce themselves. She hands them each a packet. “It has a map of the craft, the keys to your rooms and the staff hallways, and some additional information.”

She leads them down the hall, “It looks complicated at first, but you get the hang of it pretty fast. This is one of the main halls.” Magnus takes in every bit of it, admiring the long window that seems to run along the entire side of the ship, displaying the star-speckled sky. He can make out the moon in the distance. “They told me you’re a knife thrower. And Magnus, I heard you’re a fire baton-twirler.”

“That sounds correct,” Magnus says, refocusing on the woman leading them, “though I’ve never heard it called that. What do you do?”

Catarina grins back at him, dark eyes alight with joy. “You probably noticed the craft is gravity controlled?”

“I imagine people would be less interested in circus stunts if gravity wasn’t an issue,” Magnus muses.

She nods as she swipes her keycard over a lock and pulls open a heavy silver door. The hall behind it is all one shade of gray and Magnus has to assume it’s one of the staff halls. “Exactly. Even more so for aerial acts.”

“You do aerial?”

“Silks and trapeze,” she confirms with a bit of a smile. “I’m starting to learn lyra now.”

Magnus doesn’t know what most of those words mean but he nods along as if he does before asking, “How long have you been here?”

A flicker of a shadow pass over Catarina’s face and her next words are spoken softly, “Almost two years. And now? I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Literally, I guess. But we’re here! Raphael, this is your room. Magnus, yours is the one across the hall.” She pointed to the corresponding doors. “You can leave your things here and we’ll head for the dining hall.”

Magnus took the time to set his single duffle bag on the bed in the center of the room. The bedroom isn’t large by any means, but it’s comfortable looking. It’s all shades of gray, remarkably similar to the hall but there’s a large window against the wall that shows the space unfolding around the ship. The bed is soft enough and there’s a dresser and a nightstand with a lamp. Magnus thinks it will make a decent living space.

“I know it’s not much,” Catarina says from the door. “But we get free meals and access to all ship activities as well.”

“It’s fine,” Magnus says as he joins her in the hall. Raphael is there as well, leaning against his door. “Not the worst place I’ve lived.”

“Seconded,” Raphael mutters, running a hand through his hair.

Catarina nods like she understands too well. Magnus supposes people with nice upbringings don’t run off to join the space circus. “Let’s get to the dining hall. I’ll introduce you to some more of the circus members.”

The dining hall is extravagant and filled to the brim. Soft, upbeat music plays over the speakers but it’s barely audible under the drone of conversation. Most of the occupants look like they make more in a day than Magnus has made in his entire life. They’re dressed in extravagant fashions, their hair styled perfectly. Although, some of them are wearing swimsuits and appear to be damp which makes Magnus wonder if the ship has a pool. He’s sure they’re all paying guests. People rich enough to afford space cruises.

There are several options for food which Catarina points out, informing them which booth has what kind of food. “You can get anything you want, but let me introduce you first.”

She leads them through the throngs of people to a table occupied by a large group. To Magnus’ relief, most of them are dressed fairly casually like himself. They don’t appear to be overly concerned with their looks. Catarina stops at the head of it and taps the man sitting closest on the shoulder. “Ragnor, this is Magnus and Raphael, they’re the new recruits.”

Ragnor studies them with a stone expression before nodding. When he speaks it’s with a distinctly British accent. “Welcome to Edom. Has Cat told you how the dining hall works?” He stands and places a kiss to Catarina’s cheek.

“Of course I did. I just wanted to bring them over before they got food.”

With introductions out of the way, Magnus splits off from Catarina and Raphael to get Asian food while they head for the Italian booth. Ragnor accompanies Magnus, explaining that while the circus is technically run by a highly paid official in charge of the entertainment on Edom it’s handled mostly by him and Catarina for all intents and purposes.

“I’ve been here five years,” Ragnor says as they fill their trays with a selection of mouth-watering food. “Best years of my life.”

“Catarina said something similar,” Magnus remembers “You really enjoy it?”

Ragnor nods. “There wasn’t much left on Earth for me. These people have become my family. You’ll understand soon.”

Family. Magnus hasn’t had anyone to associate with the word in longer than he cares to think about. It causes a pang of longing in his chest.

“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with not being invested in the circus outside of training hours, you’re free to enjoy the craft and mingle with the cruise-goers, many people do. But a lot of us also tend to stick together, look out for each other. We’re the ones that are still here cruise after cruise.”

The idea of having someone, multiple people even, who will look out for him feels foreign. He’s always looked out for those around him, the girls and boys he’d dated, but rarely did they return the favor. He desperately hoped what Ragnor was saying was true. “And what’s your act?”

“I help with a bit of everything, but my most interesting act is aerial stunts. Catarina and I do a few routines together.”

“I look forward to seeing that.”

“Everyone is fun to watch,” Ragnor says dismissively as they make their way back to the table, curving around the groups of people. “But you get used to it.”

Magnus blinks. “To being around ridiculously talented people?”

Ragnor smirks back at him, “To being around freaks. Oh, don’t look so offended, we’ve all made peace with it. I recommend you do the same- you'll be a lot happier here.”

He quietly sits down, contemplating Ragnor’s words. He supposes he’s never been normal , what could it hurt to try on another label? Everyone did seem to be happy with their uniqueness.

His first day of training is almost overwhelming. It goes by in a blur of names and faces and helping the others with their acts. Cat helps him with his dance, figuring out the parameters of it on the stage they’ll be using. He has to change a few steps, but it remains largely the same.

Somewhere near the end of practice Magnus finds himself watching Raphael practice, throwing knives at a spinning board around the cutout of a human body. His aim is perfect, each blade embedding into the board only an inch from the cutout.

“Wow! You know this is my least favorite act to participate in, but at least it looks like you won’t be accidentally slicing me up!”

Magnus and Raphael turn at the sound of a new voice. Simon, one of the other members he’d been introduced to earlier, is at Raphael’s side. He looks less like a circus performer and more like an accountant in Magnus’ opinion. Then again, none of them really look how he imagined circus performers would. Certainly none of them wear clown makeup- thank goodness.

“Only if you get on my nerves,” Raphael says in a way that Magnus thinks is sarcastic, but he doesn’t know Raphael well enough to be sure.

Simon holds up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Message received! Want to practice with a real body?”

Raphael nods and Magnus watches as he removes the cutout, helping Simon onto the board, latching the holds in place.

Magnus feels his stomach twist in sympathy when the board begins to turn. He can’t imagine it’s fun to be up there. Still, Simon looks relatively calm. Raphael’s face is scrunched in careful concentration as the board begins its second rotation.

Then Raphael lifts his hand and throws five blades in rapid succession. They land on either side of Simon’s head, one under each armpit, the last between his legs. Raphael goes to stop the board’s spinning while Magnus whistles lowly. “Impressive.”

“That’s always terrifying,” Simon mutters as he hops down. “But I’m unscathed so not bad.”

“Magnus!” Ragnor calls out for him. Magnus turns and sees him standing beside a lithe brunette. Ragnor waves him over. “Help me hold this.”

It’s a pole, long enough that when he picks up the other side, it puts a difference of at least fifteen feet between him and Ragnor.

“Don’t drop it,” the brunette warns before climbing onto it and standing precariously on the thin bit of metal. She doesn’t weigh enough to make it truly heavy, but Magnus steadies his posture to ensure he won’t drop it. He’d hate to send a fellow performer to the medics on his first day.

“Lift it to your chest,” Ragnor calls. Together they lift the pole. The brunette barely moves despite the change. Magnus watches as she takes several easy steps before jumping into a front flip, grabbing the pole with her hands to spin around it before righting herself.

“Dot, watch your posture,” Catarina instructs as she comes to stand by Magnus’ side. Dot nods in response, clearly focusing on her routine and balance, before jumping into a cartwheel. Catarina turns to Magnus. “How’s your first day going so far?”

Magnus doesn’t take his eyes off Dot, carefully holding the pole as still as possible. “Everyone is amazing to watch.”

“Years of training. You’re not so bad yourself,” Catarina says, patting him on the shoulder. “If you can help out with Dot’s act regularly, we’d really appreciate it.”

“Of course, I’ll help however I can.”

“Great, thanks. Let me know if you need anything.” She moves away as Dot jumps off the bar, doing a backflip before landing on the floor.

Magnus lowers the pole as she makes her way to him. She looks friendlier than when she had first approached him. “Thanks for not dropping me.”

“Of course.”

“You’re the new guy, right? Magnus or Raphael?”

He holds out a hand. “Magnus.”

Dot shakes it, looking him over, “I think you’ll fit in well here.”

He wonders if she’s calling him a freak, but he looks over the performers, takes in the smiles and looks of concentration and thinks being a freak might not be so bad if it comes with friends.

#my writing #sh fanfic #found family trope

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nailbatss · 5 years ago

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Fiesta en Mi Casa - Zabdiel de Jesus

Before this begins: This was a piece written for @girlbabyvelez ‘s writing challenge! I’m sorry this is being posted so late but here it is ^-^ Congrats on 500 and I hope you enjoy this!

Warnings: none

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1300+

Hay una fiesta en mi casa.

Nos cae la noche y tú me abrazas.

Te llevo a la luna sin la NASA.

Haremos travesuras y veremos lo que pasa.

The party had reached a level of insanity that you had never expected. Well, it was alright at first when there were only 20 people in the house. After a while though, the room became sweltering and it seemed like the music became a cacophony and was no longer fun. You had to get away and get away now. That’s when you remembered there was a staircase leading to the roof somewhere. After searching the house for a bit, you brought a blanket with you in case it was cold.

Opening the door, you stepped outside onto the roof and closed it behind you. Instantly, the music died down and you were able to breathe again. As you breathe in the gorgeous nighttime air, you heard some footsteps coming upstairs. Turning your head, you embraced your boyfriend in your arms.

“You don’t have to stay with me, Zab. You can go back downstairs.” You said while looking up at him. Shaking his head, the Puerto Rican man smiled. “No, I want to stay here with you.” That surprised you just in itself. “Why’s that?” He shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to spend time with you, nena.” He cooed before kissing your cheek, earning a blush to dust your cheeks.

The music shifted to a more slow song, so Zabdiel offered his hand to you. Without words, you knew exactly what he was asking you and you accepted. As he pulled you tight against his chest, you found yourself getting lost in his eyes. Zabdiel guided you in a slow dance as his arms wrapped around your waist, his hands resting against your back.

Closing your eyes, you began to imagine yourself getting lost with him among the stars. There you two were, dancing without care, twisting among the stars. You could feel him holding your hand to pull you along with him. It felt like you were dancing your way to the moon and enjoying yourself. While pausing your slow dance, Zabdiel pointed out the constellations that you both knew. There was the Ursa major, Ursa minor, the Big Dipper, etc. It was fun for you to realize and think about how much of a nerd your man was. Though he gave off the daddy vibes, you always knew that he was a secret nerd. After all, you two had a Harry Potter themed birthday for him a long time ago.

Every moment with Zabdiel was special for you and you never imagined yourself with anyone else. The breath you released was proof that you were happy. A happy sigh that dissipated into the cool air on the roof. You smiled up at him before he cupped your cheek, allowing you to easily kiss his palm. He seemed happy as well. It was easy to tell that you were both infatuated with each other. He smiled softly at you. “(Y/N), want to look at the stars with me?” He pointed towards the blanket that you brought with you up here, laying on the railing completely forgotten. Nodding your head, you smiled and you helped lay out the blanket.

Your shoes were discarded in a pile at the corner while you and Zabdiel laid down together. The stars above were twinkling with their bright lights and shining down on both of you. Although nighttime was creepy to some people, both you and Zabdiel found it to be calming. You could relax in each other’s presence without saying a word and just enjoy each other’s company. In addition, if you did talk, it was something calming or peaceful. Your thoughts and words danced in the air for a moment before disappearing into the night sky. Your finger gestured to the different constellations you recognized and giggled when Zabdiel tried to pronounce them with you. However, your little nerd also knew a few in Spanish, so it was interesting to hear how he pronounced the different star collections.

You wouldn’t trade these dates for anything, even if they were surprise/sprung on you out of the moment. Zab knew exactly what he was doing when you two spent time together. While cuddling under the stars, you could listen to his heartbeat and breathe in his amazing scent.

To you, Zabdiel smells warm, a little bit like spices and like a warm afternoon in the sun. He had this slight cinnamon and almond scent, like some snickerdoodle cookies that have been sitting on the counter to cool. It drew you in and made you breathe him in each time you took a breath. The scent was absolutely addicting and made you want more.

“Baby, why are you up here?” He decided to finally ask you and break the silence. You answered with a shrug of your shoulders. “I got a little headache and I wanted a moment to myself. I guess it was the anxiety?” You replied with a sigh. “I’m sorry, hermosa. Is there anything I can do to help?” Zabdiel asked with a small pout on his adorable, kissable lips. You shake your head with a smile. “I just wanna lay here with you and just have a moment to ourselves. Is that okay?” Your boyfriend seems to understand, so he nods his head. Pressing a kiss to your temple, he seems to get how much this means to you.

The quiet dates like this were absolutely wonderful. While going out to fancy restaurants and getting dressed up was fun, you liked staying home like this and just relaxing. Dates shouldn’t be all going out and trying to have fun. You could make fun with anything that you two can get up to. One or two times a week, you two would stay in your pajamas and go get breakfast at a local diner. The waitresses thought you two were the perfect couple for doing something so simple as an idea. That’s what was happening right now on the roof; you were having a date and enjoying each other’s company.

While the party went on downstairs, you two could care less about it. All you wanted was to lay there and imagine the world as you knew it. Both of you are relaxing and enjoying the moment as it was. Nothing would change between you two. As much as the party was raging on, you and Zabdiel were enjoying the quiet of the nighttime surrounding you. Both of you were not to be bothered as you continued to lay there, breathing in each other’s scent. You smiled happily, “I love you so much, Zabdiel.” The taller male grinned, “I love you too, amor.”

Night passed on as you watched the stars twinkling in the sky above you. It was a gorgeous sight and a gorgeous way to end your night. Before you knew it, you had fallen asleep on Zabdiel’s chest. After he took a moment of watching you, he placed a soft kiss to your temple and he also started counting his blessings. One of his biggest blessings that he had was laying on his chest. You.

While there was a fiesta en su casa, he didn’t care. He wanted to stay and cuddle you for the rest of his life. To him, this was the most fun he could ever have.

#Noeswritingchallenge #cnco #cncowners #cnco imagine #zabdiel de jesús #zabdiel imagine #fluff

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moon--wakearchive-blog · 6 years ago

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TAG TEN MUTUALS YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW BETTER!

Please repost not reblog!!

general info:

♡ preferred name: Shiro ♡ age: twenty-five. ♡ pronouns: They/them / she/her / he/him (I’m genderfluid, and comfortable with any pronouns). ♡ sexuality: Acesexual ♡ height: 5′2 or 5 ‘3. I can’t remember. Please let it be 5′3. ♡ hair colour: Black at the moment, and I’m planning on keeping it that way for a while! ♡ relationship status: With two cats, I’d day I’m safely on my way to becoming the crazy cat lady of my dreams.

favourite things:

♡ favourite colour: Purple, pink, army/dark green ♡ favourite song: Right now I’m really into: Way Back Home by SHAUN. ♡ favourite band / artist: Ohh noo, uhhh, Rise Against, Jimmy Eat World? ♡ favourite food: Rice, potstickers, ♡ favourite animal: Cats! As far as wild animals go: wolves or cheetahs. ♡ favourite celebrity: I have no idea. ♡ favourite holiday(s): Err, maybe Halloween? I’m honestly not a big holiday person. ♡ favourite season: Fall ♡ favourite fruit: Mango, most melons. ♡ favourite flower: Boy, maybe roses? I’m really bad with plants. Do ferns count? I had one for years, it was the only plant I was good with haha. ♡ favourite weather: Cool/mild weather? I like rain at night when I don’t have to deal with it, though. ♡ favourite language: English, I guess? I’m in the process of trying to learn Japanese since we’re planning on going to Japan next year, but heck it’s really hard for me to learn languages. I had the same issue with Spanish while I was still in school. I think it’s because I understand and process information through words rather than images or whatever the heck the other methods of learning are. I can understand it when spoken to, but I can’t read or write it and my ability to actually speak it myself is pretty limited.

name of:

♡ name of your crush: I don’t have one haha. ♡ name of your pet(s): (Cats): Bella, Elise. (Dogs): Kade, Jessie, Hollie. ♡ name(s) of your best friend(s): Evie and Laura!

this or that?

♡ introvert or extrovert: I am probably the single most introverted person you’ll ever meet. ♡ nerdy or sassy: Is that what I’m attracted to or my own personality? (I’m sorry in addition to being the most introverted person you’ll meet I am also very, very ace haha). I’m probably more nerdy than sassy? ♡ tall or short: I’m short? I’m confused haha. I don’t really care about height of this is supposed to be for other people. ♡ looks or personality: personality ♡ homesick or traveler: I both enjoy traveling and being at home, but I can only handle so much traveling so probably homesick? ♡ woods or city: Woods. ♡ phone or computer: computer ♡ family or money: family. ♡ books or movies: books. ♡ food or sleep: Sleep. Oh man, sleep it great. Food is great too, but I live for sleep haha.

TAGGING: @unladylikc, @scarbladed, @backblade, @thankycu, @cirocchio. Feel free to steal this/consider yourself tagged if you’d like to do this!

Tagged by: @ravensbled! Thank you!

#| ☩ Out of time ☩ |#| ☩ Memes ☩ |#{ I wanted to dye my hair a funky color }#{ which I've done in the past but gosh it's so hard to maintain }#{ I like how I had to think about sassy or nerdy when my cat is named after a Fire Emblem character wow }#{ The only other pet I named is Kade and he's just named after the main character in a book of mine }#{ or else he would also probably have to suffer and be named after a FE character }#{ I have two other tags so prepare yourselves I'm sorry haha }

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adamwatchesmovies · 7 years ago

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2017/10/01 - Adam Watches Movies’ Top 20

Before we dig in, I wanted to clarify a couple of things. This is my “Favorite Movies” list, not necessarily the ones I think are the best, but the ones I enjoy or cherish the most. There are so many to choose from that I expect this list to change significantly between now and the next time. My only rule was that I needed to have seen the film more than once. If there’s a title that you expect to see here, it’s likely because I’ve only viewed it that one time… or maybe I still haven’t watched it!

20. Seven Samurai (1954)

A recent addition to this list, I watched The Seven Samurai in order to get prepared for the 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven. I was blown away and wound up seeing it twice in a row. It may seem impulsive to include it, but it really made an impact on me.

19. 12 Angry Men (1957)

A lot of the pictures on this list could be categorized in the sci-fi, fantasy, or musical category. You will notice that a number of them also share a certain trait with 12 Angry Men in that they’re boiled down to their essence. There’s no fat to trim in this film. You don’t even find out a whole lot about the case the jurors are debating because you don’t need to. It’s all about that immediacy of what’s going on right there and then.

18. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

I vividly remember the first time I saw Singin’ in the Rain. A friend of mine invited me to see it with her in the theatre. I haven’t stopped thinking about Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds since. Like my #16 pick, it’s pure jubilation on-screen.

17. Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Similarly to the next film on my list, this version of the fairytale perfectly brings child-like wonder to life. I love the sets, the costumes, the black-and-white cinematography, the fact that it isn’t ashamed of being what it is. It never smirks or winks at the camera. Beauty and the Beast doesn’t need to; it enchants you from the very first frame. There are many other versions of this tale out there, but don’t overlook this one.

16. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

I literally just re-watched this musical last night. I’ve seen it many times and it never loses its charm. Everyone reading has probably seen this film, but have you REALLY seen it? I’m not talking about bits and pieces on TV with commercial breaks or fleeting glimpses between laundry being folded. To me, The Wizard of Oz isn’t just a movie, it’s a feeling that’s been captured and immortalized on film.

15. RoboCop (1987)

Dark, violent, funny and deceptively smart, this is much more than a story about a cyborg shooting criminals. The sequels weren’t kind to RoboCop and while the remake was ok, it isn’t on the same level as the original. It’s got great villains, many quotable lines, an iconic look and feel… so many of its scenes are permanently imprinted on my brain that this was an easy pick.

14. The Terminator (1984)

I remember the first time I watched The Terminator. I snuck downstairs while everyone else was asleep so that no one would know that I was viewing an R-Rated movie. That was the beginning. Over the years, I’ve flip-flopped between this first chapter in the series and its sequel. In fact, Terminator 2 was “my favorite movie” for a long time. Today, I’m giving my love to the one who started it all.

13. King Kong (1933)

One of my favorite things about this film is that it’s bigger than anyone working on it could’ve imagined. There’s a reason why we’re still talking about this movie today. I love the visuals, the storyline, and that ending; it’s unforgettable.

12. Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965)

This could’ve been any number of Godzilla films. I could’ve put anything from the 1954 original to last year’s Shin Godzilla in this spot, but Monster Zero is the one I’m most nostalgic for, the giant monster film I used to watch the most as a kid. There are so many lines from this one that I know by heart and wish I could quote… but how often do you get to slip “The Monster is Zero” in a conversation?

11. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The most recent film on this list and one of the greatest action films ever made. It’s also beautiful and features surprisingly well-developed characters. This movie goes for it, all the way. There’re no superficial aspects. It’s just blazing action all the way through. I saw it what… Five times in the theatre? and it just keeps getting better.

10. The Iron Giant (1999)

Another childhood favorite of mine, I had the pleasure of watching the Signature Edition on the big screen with some friends when it was re-released in 2015 and it reignited something in me. I’m also fairly certain that I saw this one in its original theatrical run in 1999. It’s got so much heart and so many laughs. I fall in love with every detail of this Brad Bird film every time I watch it.

9. Batman (1989)

Tim Burton’s Batman is not a faithful adaptation of the comic book character. The Joker’s origin is different, Batman’s methods of fighting crime are not consistent with what’s been printed on the page for decades now, the characters’ dynamics have been vastly altered… but there’s something about it that captures the spirit of the character nonetheless. It all builds towards that final, epic shot with Danny Elfman’s music in the background that tells you what this character is all about. You watch this movie and it brings you back to when it was first released. You understand why it was such a big deal. You don’t get that feeling from any run-of-the-mill movie.

8. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

My #2 movie is another horror film, and I love it for its historical value. It’s higher on my list, but it doesn’t frighten me like this low-budget chiller does. When I pop The Blair Witch Project into my player, I’m immediately filled with a sentiment of dread. I don’t want to put my back to the window, I don’t want to go to bed afterward. It’s a film like none other because it doesn’t even feel like a film, it’s real footage of something horrible that happened. It doesn’t matter that I know that isn’t the case, that I know how it ends. The impact never diminishes.

7. Ben-Hur (1959)

1957’s 3:10 to Yuma was in this spot until the last second when I remembered Ben-Hur. How could I forget the betrayal, the galleys, the chariot race, the delicate balance of themes, the tale of vengeance? This list was hard to make and I’m sorry 3:10. You’re great, I love you very much but when a film lasts 212 minutes and never feels long, it absolutely must be placed on the list.

6. X2: X-Men United (2003)

This is how you do a sequel right. I could’ve put several of the X-Men films on this list, but this is the one I’ve seen the most times. I love the way it builds upon what we’ve seen before and raises the stakes.

5. Star Wars (1977)

Surprisingly, I don’t really have nostalgia for Star Wars. I saw the originals as a kid a couple of times and of course saw the prequels when they were released, but my love for it comes from an adult viewpoint. The way this first chapter takes familiar story elements and makes them feel fresh again, the characters, the iconic moments, the things it brought to cinema as a whole is what made me go back to it over and over. Over the years, It’s brought me back to that time that didn’t actually happen but feels like it does, that moment where I first saw the colorful aliens and laser battles and was blown away.

4. Fantasia (1940)

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen Fantasia. As a kid, I loved the Rite of Spring segment. As an adult, it’s the combination of music and visuals that gets me. This would be a great first movie to show to your children. I think it would spark their imagination in the way few films would.

3. The Little Mermaid (1989)

My favorite Disney animated film, at least today. This could’ve easily been Snow White and the Seven Dwarves or Beauty and the Beast on a different day. I remember the moment I truly fell in love with this one. It was in high school and suddenly, something clicked. As soon as I got home, I scoured the shelves for our VHS copy and watched it. My family couldn’t understand why I suddenly needed to view this animated musical, but I sat there and drank it all in. The colors, the details, the character designs, the songs, they all work so well together. Ariel and I both have a passion for collecting and a ferocious curiosity. Maybe that has something to do with why I relate to her so much.

2. Halloween (1978)

When I think I get tired of this film, I find something new to like about it. Like in 12 Angry Men, I love the simplicity of the story. You’re home, alone. There’s a man with a mask and a knife. He’s trying to get you. That’s all you need for a horror story. Even the killer isn’t fancy, it’s just a white face, but if you saw that mask starring at you through the window late at night, you’d wet yourself.

1. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

I’ve mentioned my love for the Universal Monsters before. I could’ve put some of the other films on this list; Dracula and its Spanish Counterpart, The Invisible Man or The Creature from the Black Lagoon but I don’t like any of them as much as I do Frankenstein. Since this one squeaks past it by just a hair, it’s only fitting that it takes the #1 spot. Will it stay there the next time I make this list? I can’t say for sure, but I’m excited to find out.

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yasuragi-hotaru · 7 years ago

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Uta Pri: 6th Stage Report Pt. 2

Continues from Getting Tickets

PRE-SHOW: The Goods Line & Trading @ Sunshine City 5/25

In my research of Japanese concerts and seiyuu events, I learned about goods sales typically happening before the show. I noticed people mentioned that you could line up any time before doors opened, there wasn’t a set time that the merch tent would ~open for business~. Sometimes there was order forms, sometimes not. Either way, you’d be waiting a while to get your stuff before the actual concert. I spent a good few weeks trying to mentally prepare myself to get to Met Life Dome on the first train out, trying to figure out a schedule, make sure I was super rested for a really really longggggg daaaay.

Of course, for 6th Stage, with such anticipation of getting goods, the staff decided to make a separate event over several days leading up and including the live weekend to join the queue at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro for the majority of the available merch. This…..threw a wrench in my planning! Just when I thought I had a whole day to dedicate to 6th Stage, I now realized the first thing I was ever ever ever going to do in Japan…….was going to stand in line. For hours. To try and buy merchandise. Of fictional idol groups.

Me: (to me) why are you l i k e t h i s

@reijiwiththegoodhair typed up this SUPER awesome and detailed post about the set up for how goods would be sold at Sunshine City. I read through it over and over and over again. I didn’t fully understand where and when the line would begin, especially because I had never even seen the complex, let alone step foot anywhere near it, but with her help, along with my attempt at translating the map the event page provided, I figured I would just do my best, get up as early as humanly possible after 2 layovers and 24hr of travel to take the 15 min walk from my guesthouse to Sunshine City.

I slept for 4 hrs. Woke up. Threw on my outfit. And set out. To immediately find an umbrella because it was full on downpour haha orz

THIS-IS-FINE-DOG.JPG THISWASGOINGTOBEGREAT I JUST KNEW IT. The rain wasn’t going to stop me!!!

Luckily, when i was perusing the breakfast options in the conbini I stopped in, I looked up and noticed a girl wearing the same Tokiya shirt as me, with her Tokiya ita bag, standing there with her friend wearing a Masato shirt and TWO Masato ita bags. I was definitely in the right place at the right time. I paid for my light breakfast right after them and traced their steps through a walkway beside the station, through several streets, and over to the crosswalk to Sunshine City, where the utapri ita bags MULTIPLIED.

Whoever you ladies are, I’m grateful for crossing paths with you so I didn’t get lost!

The illustrated map starts to come to life as we walk up the Spanish steps, and just ahead, there’s a man in a poncho, holding a sign saying he was the end of the line. There didn’t appear to be that many people ahead of me! I was feeling pretty good, made a guestimate of maybe 200 people ahead of me and, despite being 6AM, I really felt like I had a good chance to come out with the goodies I wanted.

Immediately I noticed three things other people had that I didn’t: a rolling suitcase, mini collapsible stool, and enough food and drinks for the day. Oh boy. I did not know what I signed myself up for. Me and my tiny bag of coffee and breakfast sandwich wrappers stood no chance.

By 7AM, they made the first line move. EEEEK. already?? can it be? Was warmth and dryness nearing??? the line turned a corner and I discovered my first encounter with the dubious

s e c r e t l i n e s

I was sorely mistaken–there was not 200 people ahead of me, but anywhere between 2,000-3,000 people safely tucked away in neat lines that snaked up and down and around and back up to the back of Sunshine City. And suddenly, I didn’t feel so confident anymore.

I lost any semblance of orientation, and just hoped, each time we turned a corner, that the next pathway down wasn’t super long, and that the stop and go shuffling meant that more people were being fielded into the building before the announced sale time.

If my memory serves me correctly, the actual line went something like this, give or take:

The dashed lines are ones that went a level below the rest of the line. But more or less, the next 4 hours on the line outside was just a lot of stationary standing, shuffling, adjusting and waiting until 11am when the inventory site would start showing what’s been sold for the day.

at 11am, I was just outside the side of the building to the entrance behind the main building. I hit refresh on site and within like 15 minutes, the ONLY thing sold out were pen lights. which of course, was the #1 thing I wanted >w<

Despite that, when we FINALLY got out of the rain, everyone was shuffling to pack away their umbrellas and pull out their order forms. I followed suit as much as possible. There were staff handing out extra order forms outside, but I had already brought my initial form and then 3 extra forms in case i wanted to add more as I waited.

So once you crossed over the bridge into the building with the hall, I could hear the soundtrack of Legend Star pouring out of the hall. I am FULL ON 😍HEART EYES😍 RN I CAN’T EVEN DEAL OMG GET ME IN THERE. But then. of course, lo and behold,

MORE SECRET LINES. omg when do they ENDDDDDDDDDD OTL

So once you enter, there’s two check points before you walk away with your goods: the first set of 3 lines (yellow, green, pink) where you hand over your order form, the staff clips on a number to it, and hands the corresponding tag over to you and you wait some more until you get closer to the register (point two) where you go to pay.

I thought I filled out my form in full until the staff member asked me a question, to which my response was Terrified Blank Face of Doom That I Don’t Understand What You Just Said To Me™ (this face, apparently, is My Face™ throughout the entirety of my trip, but I TRIED I PROMISE AND EVERYONE WAS SO NICE ANYWAY) but then he asked me in English, cash or card? XD so simple oh god, this is day one, I am SUCH NOOB I’M SORRY YES CASH THANK YOU I SUCK.

(6 is my favorite number and 4 is Tokiya’s for 6th stage–I was hoping this number would be fortuitous!)

Waiting here felt just as long, but at least there was 1. no rain and 2. M U S I C. A whole room echoing the duet songs and legend star and shining dream songs on repeat as we wait ^w^ I was so amped. My pink line inched ever so slowly, but as soon as I made it to the register, I handed my number over to the staff person. From here, you realize that they had staff running around behind a wall, gathering every single ordered items and placing them in a black basket that they hand over to the person at the register. The pink line orders were a bitttt backed up, so I waited a little more for the lady to come back over with my stuff.

Once you have your black basket, they pull out a second (red) basket where they transfer everything over, one by one, and review what you had on your order form and what they were able to get for you. It’s very considerate and definitely helps make sure you 100% know what you’re walking away with! I realized that my basket was WAY less full than some other people’s, but that didn’t matter because pen light aside, quantity wise, I snagged everything that i wanted! やった (*‘▽’*)

After a little snafu with paying (spoiler: i can’t count bills normally, let alone with foreign currency #useless), from here, you take your red basket to a row of tables where you can bag your stuff. It’s a super efficient process さすがですね~~ but what slows this part down is that everyone is opening up their blinds to take stock before they head out to trade. But more on that in a bit.

As you go to exit, they have Legend Star tapestries hanging and they were GORGEOUS. omg my precious little princes!!!! (sorry, i was too star struck by STARISH [wow pun unintended] to get pics of the other groups! #mybiasisshowing)

because i have NOCHILL OMG IT’S TOKIYAAAAAAAAA IT’S HIM OMG HE’S SO BEAUTIMOUS.

I was lured over by the Animate table and made some additional purchases, including MLL6 that came with the 6th stage signed bromide ；ω；and some singles I didn’t already have, which included some posters as bonus! Gosh, I am a sucker.

And with that, 7 hrs and one bottle of cola later, I was one happy (albeit hungry) pup with several blue bags of merch in hand. ٩( ᐛ )و

But now, this trading business? I had 2 ring lights, 5 out of 8 bangles, and 1 purchase bonus badge to trade for Tokiya (aside from the bangles, in which I was looking for a full set of STARISH + Reiji) ;____; how doooooo. Trading was not allowed in the hall or near the line in sunshine city. I heard people trade on Twitter and arrange pick up locations etc, so as I was thinking about how to make a trading post along with what to finally eaaaat, i looked to my right at the park across the street from Animate ACOS and made my next discovery

Fans trading! Just openly! Some are way legit, they have their merch in clear boxes for display with dry erase boards or pictures saying which characters they have and who they are trading for. Most fans, you can tell who they’re looking for based on their ita bags. But it’s……actually pretty easy! All I basically had to know was (and some of this is intuitive but, y’know, this was my first time really speaking Japanese in practice, so):

すみません (Sumimasen - excuse me)

誰ですか (Dare desu ka? - who is it? [which was usually asked when you want to know who the other person is looking for])

トキヤですか (Tokiya desu ka? - Is it Tokiya? [or insert your idol here])

あります / ありません、ごめんなさい (Arimasu - I have / Arimasen, gomen nasai - I do not have, I’m sorry!)

お願いします (Onegaishimasu - please)

ありがとうございます(Arigatou gozaimasu - Thank you!)

The easiest items to trade for were my set of bangles! I think I got lucky bc i had 3 Ai bangles and 1 Camus and an extra STARISH one, can’t remember who. I think some people were a little confused when I just would randomly pick out whichever STARISH member I was missing from their “to trade” pile. But soon I had my full set of my sons and husbando! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

And of course, my ROT Squad 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Next was for my ring lights. This was, way way harder. I has a Masato and Reiji ring, which I felt pretty confident about finding someone to take them off my hands. I saw a girl really wanted a Masato ring, so I traded it for her Otoya ring. And there were some people with Tokiya rings, but i had nothing to trade for it ;______; there was a lot of longing at their piles. Eventually, I just kind of stood there, with my bonus badge and 2 rings just in the palm of my hand and hoping someone would approach me and trade. It was a gamble, but why not.

I got a tap on my shoulder, and this girl just went “すみません! …トキヤくん?” to which i gave her a tentative “…..はい?” and she pointed to my Reiji ring, and then to her Tokiya ring, and smiled and i just BEAMED at her and nodded and we made the exchange. やった!!! Tokiya ring acquired!!! Thank you, senpai! And lucky for me, because a few more Tokiya girls showed up and could’ve faired better than I would’ve.

Alas, my Cecil bonus badge and Otoya ring were untradeable in this park. After a little more time, I gave into my poor grumbling stomach and headed off to find a full meal.

3 days away, and I was going to be ready for you, 6th Stage!!!

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avenger-hawk · 7 years ago

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I was tagged by @tsukiko-hibiki Thank you Tsukiko!!

Post a selfie and ten facts about yourself. Tag 10 others.

I’m not in the mood for selfies but my face is in this tag.

1 My favourite planet is Pluto….I consider it a planet not because I got angry at it being demoted but because I think of all the dwarf planet and recently discovered objects as parts of the enlarged Solar System. I also like it because it was there at the borders all alone doing its own thing with its cute heart, then they decided it wasn’t a planet but then it “came back” with new cool little planets, kinda like it formed its own team. So basically Pluto is the Sasuke of the Solar System and Kuiper Belt is Team Taka~

2 Also I think according to my birth chart I have Pluto conjunct to the Ascendent and it should mean something but I can’t remember what. My mom had my “karmic birth chart” made by a professional astrologist ages ago, but I lost the cd. I can only find the charts I can’t understand, calculation results I’ve never seen in online birth charts (must be the karmic part~), handwritten notes I can’t even read sooooo I only understood that despite not being connected to my sun rising or ascendant, my strongest planet is the moon and my element is water. Oh and according to my Venus I really really love animals. Which I can’t deny.

3 I hate cinnamon. I never liked it much but when I went to Prague with my school I got drunk with cinnamon flavored vodka and I hate it ever since.

4 I value freedom of speech very much so I try to be tolerant of others’ opinions, even though inside I find most lacking perspective and critical thinking, it’s like everyone has blinkers over their eyes, and they can only look straight ahead towards the mental framework they built, or others did for them. I usually ignore what bothers me unless my freedom is limited.

5 Same for feelings. I don’t usually share them becase I feel kinda “weaker” after. When I do it’s either because I trust and/or value the other person. But when I face generic unrequired advice that clearly shows poor understanding of me, lack of respect of my boundaries and no effort in listening I shut down, not getting angry but no longer wanting to communicate with them, because If I’m not properly listened and respected there is no need to waste time talking to them.

6 I’ve always been good at finding patterns, seeing beyond the apperences with trends and tendencies, and figuring out the core motivation. So I’m very interested in how mass media brainwash people and pilot trends to take people where they want them while giving them the impression that they’re free to choose from (apparently) many options.

7 I am grateful for my mom being a femminist, because as a kid she gave me fairytale books about girls standing up to men’s oppression and having adventures, and science books for kids, in addition to classic fairytales and stuff. Instead my dad, a normally open minded person, on certain issues and subconsciously values a man’s opinion more than a female’s, because of his traditional upbringing…

8 When I was a kid I was extremely drawn to everything different, far, exotic. I would daydream about space and alien planets, or about having anime-like powers, or living upside down. I liked books and documentaries about other countries and cultures, to me different faces, habits, clothes and food were really a special thing. I write this now because my mom listens to a radio station playing vintage/old music and they played this song called La Colegiala and I had a childlike moment remembering that I saw its video as a kid once. I was too young and I hadn’t studied Spanish yet, but it didn’t matter, there was a train running through Peru, with local people and landscapes and I really liked it.

9 I can’t stand those who think that humans are better than animals. Humans are naked apes, as the song (and the book) say~

10 My sister is my complete opposite. She’s the life of the party, everyone loves her instantly, she’s the type who makes jokes all the time, about everything and everyone, herself included and she’s very emotional (you don’t want to have her around when some crisis happens, because that’s the moment Hawk takes the lead) The only thing we have in common is our love for the animals. We get along really well, I can’t even remember the last time we argued. She’s my best friend. And we’re actually going on a short trip for a few days~

I tag:

@admiral-izusasu

@renamon15

@wynillustrates

@lusciousitachi

@shisuicune

@komiya-kun

@kakashitachi

@loonelybird

@moonsuke

@minai28

@summeringminor

@someone-who-is-there

@rockabelle

sorry if I forgot someone…I’m on mobile and I’m kinda in a hurry~

#ask meme/tag game #so yeah i won't be able to reply to asks and stuff #do we listen to music during the trip? nope because she talks all the time #we google the places we pass by and read trivia #she gets anxious if i talk about astronomy for some reason #and she likes the uk monarchy way too much..#anyway it's fun

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sole-cuore-amore-e-droga · 6 years ago

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EUROVISION IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES #1 - a pre-review bulletin

Hey hey! Sorry I haven’t gotten out my review of Albania’s yet, I promise I’ll do it sometime before reviewing the Spanish entry. For now I’mma publish something I could easily vent off on simply because talking to the same folks over and over, especially if they won’t shut up about their faves, gets kinda annoying, especially if you mention that you don’t like a fanwank and you await for the fandom to jump at you.

I’ll go ahead and split this into sections. first one being “fanwank assimilation” where I look over some unexpected fanflops all at once before Destination Eurovision possibly overkills us with a new wave of their own:

Mirud - Nënë: the very first fanwank to crash and burn this season. Well it’s not a wonder it was the first one as the NF it hails from is exactly the first ESC NF that an ESC entry comes out. Now take a look at this ballad in depth. Lyrically it’s about Mirud’s cold mother that abandoned the poor boy in some way, all projected onto a... kind of a 00′s ballad sound from the Balkans. It gets kinda better but then kinda more specifically from an old Eastern drawer by the end of the song. It's nice sounding but the revamp could have kicked this song in the balls SEVERELY. I cannot really judge Mirud's performances and why would have juries had issues with him (as I only watched the FiK 56 final), but deeply in my heart I'd still rather support that guy - despite not immediately 'buying' his song, I still think he deserved a fair shot in the finals just because. I also went to console him on Instagram and he thanked me. Kosovar Americans STRONK

Florina - In the Shadow: This little songstress right here had a potentially large pop career ahead of her, and I do think that she still does... if she sticks to singing in studio. "In the Shadow", while competently composed, is such a blatant "Chandelier" knockoff it hurts, and I hate "Chandelier".

Olivér Berkes - Világítótorony: Coming from probably the most diverse NFs of them all (after Eesti Laul), A Dal, is this gem in a form of a piano ballad played by a fancy waiter in a restaurant. Seemed warm and touching enough... and then came the staging. Say what you want about it but personally it could have used a lil' more oomph - instead you got a fisherman in front of an additional backdrop thing, standing like a wooden statue that all kinds of bugs could feast on at a later time in the future, trying to sound all kinds of emotional with barely any of emotional investment with the viewer's feelings - oh, and also transmitting a 0,5 of a bum note live. I saw people still rooting for this song despite the performance, especially the Hungarian ones on the ESCBubble livejournal for the show (same with "Frida"). As well as those who're still upset by the flop of the song somewhat (looking at the tumblr acc siklosiors). But there are some fans who rather understood its flop, too. And I wasn't even a fan but I felt bad for its deeply invested fanbase. Say what you want about this not really being a fanflop, but people around my area did like it a lot in studio before the shows and even had it as one of their big favourites if not THE big favourite and that counts for me

Gabriella - On cherché encore (Never Get Enough): Last but not least is the Little Miss Congeniality of Destination Eurovision 2019. She seemed fairly active on Twitter, called the Eurofans from there "low key wild" and appreciated everyone's support. She was also invited to a groupchat with me as a part of it and I do think we did interract somewhat, and she even retweeted a post of mine once. Now, what could have possibly fallen apart? The utter 'friendliness' of hers might have seemed somewhat annoying, but I doubt she would have deserved to flop JUST because of it... the problem lies in the international jury for sure. I think that, had they not overfocused on Seemone so much, they would have possibly paid some more attention to the little violin angel Gabriella and her... pretty "Apollo"-in-ESC-esque performance (only because of the odd decision on being up those darn stairs... nothing else). Even one of the Frech jurors was SHOOK over the flop of hers (that judge being Christophe Willem - check his Wiwibloggs video interview for to verify what I just typed).

And this one, well for it I don’t have any special pictures for it but I am gonna introduce you to my crazy-ass opinions for some reason. With this I’m obviously alienating half of my remaining audience that still uses Tumblr but I better vent because reasons.

• I prefer “Roi” over “Tous les deux” (Destination Eurovision). I am not telling it to many Twitter people who really believe in their saviour Seemone, so I saved it for Tumblr, which was evacuated by many after the NSFW regulations scandal. Thing is, I somehow got that f*cker "Roi" stuck in my head, already hitting the 5th stage of grief towards it. And it also kinda grew on me?

• “No puedo mas” is not a disappointing song (OT Gala). Okay, maybe just a little bit? Kinda? On a second listen to it, it seems kind of substandard - it's like you could easily just strip Famous off the song, add an English-singing soul 'legend', also make lyrics English and there people would like it better... unless it would end up on EYD. EYD is a huge NO of the NF realm for another year in a row. Famous did his best though, and if I got that sour televote score, I'd be disappointed too!

• Our NF fanwanks kind of suck (Eurovizijos atranka). Barely anyone cares about it but still - no one from our selection ain't it, honestly. Well, maybe at least "Light On" doesn't sound very terrible as a candidate. But I'm honestly sick of our fanwanks every single year, especially the ones pushed by juries. You gotta need whatever they are smoking to understand the beauty of some of their loves.

that’s it

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picturestees · 6 years ago

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Happy Halloween Minions shirt

Is it too early to talk about Halloween now? No, it’s not early. With Happy Halloween Minions shirt, Halloween is coming very close to you. Like every other country, every year on the last day of October in the United States celebrates Halloween. This is a very unique and exciting festival with fun activities and tales of ghosts and witches. On this feast, children across the United States wear costumes to the quarters. Neighborhood children knock on the door to candy with the sentence “Trick or treat”. Halloween came to the United States because the first immigrants, mostly from the United Kingdom and some from the Celtic regions, brought a lot of customs to the United States. But for many reasons, it was not until the 1800s that it became a popular custom. Jack in the legends, not in heaven, was rejected because hell is not living well.

Interesting about the name Minions super stir

Thus, from the character helps the young learn to draw lessons. Living should not be greedy, stingy, stingy, always have charity, help people difficult. The funny character in ‘Despicable Me’ is a good hint for teenagers in the upcoming makeup festival. Topping the list of Halloween costumes is the Minion in “Despicable Me.” Minions are small but brilliant yellow creatures that appear from the dawn of the planet. Over the years, Minions evolved and always found the most admirable leader to obey. However, they are also the most mysterious creatures on Earth by the information about them almost “secret”. Although not gender-specific, the names of all Minions are masculine names. However Happy Halloween Minions, the number of Minions amounts to 899. Only Minions who regularly appear or play a major role have their names and names: Dave, Stuart, Kevin, Jerry, Tim, Mark, Phil, Bob, Norbert.

Happy Halloween Minions sweater, hoodie, and long sleeve

Guys tee

V-neck

Ladies tee

Although there are hundreds of Happy Halloween Minions, they have only five fixed hairstyles. As one of the most powerful assassins in the world. Especially in helping Gru create weapons to execute his evil plans. The Minions have only three fingers. The audience still remembers in the movie Lovers of the Moon 2. The Minion was kidnapped and poisoned with a drug. Turning them into purple monsters. The filmmakers chose purple for the evil minion. Because purple is the color of the contrast on the color palette with yellow. Minions can be crushed, squashed, squeezed, but can survive without being hurt. Even a Minion can survive comfortably in space after poisoned by an anti-gravity serum that. Causes it to fly out of space. Minion has a language that people hear very familiar but do not understand anything.

Official Happy Halloween Minions sweater, hoodie, and long sleeve

Sweater

Hoodie

Long sleeve

At present, humans have been able to understand some of the Minion words. Happy Halloween Minions shirt Hello – Bello, Goodbye – Popeye, Thank you -Tank you, Sorry – Bi-do. And Minion counts 1,2,3 in Korean. Minion loves to eat bananas. Banana is also the word that Minion speaks the most. They even composed a song with the word Banana. In addition to bananas, two other kinds of fruits are Minion also like apples and papaya. Every time Minion talk or sing, the audience laughs again though … do not understand anything. Sometimes I hear very familiar words, but I can not understand them. The language that Minion used strange but familiar. It is a combination of five languages – English, French, Spanish, Italian and Indian. And “processed” in a formula that blends words with or without sound.

The post Happy Halloween Minions shirt appeared first on Picturestees - United States POD T shirt.

from Picturestees – United States POD T shirt http://bit.ly/2xAXZRB

#Picturestees #Picturestees – United States POD T shirt

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andeegutierrez-blog · 6 years ago

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The Universal-ness of Casi 40

Oh, The Humanity! (a discussion of the universal-ness of the film's story)

If you’re a romance junkie (the type that’s into cheesy lines and scenes that make you go kilig), you might want to take a step back and think before deciding to watch Casi 40. Based on the film poster alone, one might get the impression that this movie ends in the two characters getting together and living happily ever (as I did), but to be frank, it was the exact opposite of what I expected. From the subtlety of its scenes to the rawness of its dialogue, Casi 40 – a story about love (the real kind), and friendship – is definitely a film to behold.

In this review I’m going to be talking about the universal-ness of the film in terms of its underlying themes in love and friendship, and how these relate to its audience.

The film begins with two friends getting together after 20 years of estrangement.

Lucia – a well-known musician who chose to leave her career to pursue a family

– meets up with Tristan – the owner of an eco-friendly cosmetics company (on which the two fervently make fun of during the film’s progression) and a former friend who invites her on cross-city, 5-day concert tour around Spain, in the hopes of helping Lucia jumpstart her music career once again.

Although the audience was not informed from the beginning, Lucia and Tristan are actually past lovers, as established in a previous film entitled La Buena Vida (The Good Life) released back in 1996. Based on my readings, it was during the events of this film that we see Tristan shine as the hero of his own story, centering on his incapacity to “grow up” as quick as his parents would’ve expected. It was during this time that he had fallen in love (with Lucia) for the very first time, finding comfort in her after enduring hardships following the traumatic death of his parents.

With this information, Casi 40 suddenly turns into a “first love never dies” type of film, and a good one at that. It’s not your typical cliché romantic comedy where the you see the characters end up back together by the end of the film. Instead, you are given a huge slap of reality where in most real cases, the rekindling ends in either heartbreak, or acceptance (SPOILER ALERT: In this film, it ends in the latter)

There are moments in the film where Lucia would question Tristan’s real reasons behind his invitation to a concert tour in the first place (and the fact that Lucia ever considered accepting it! For old time’s sake, I guess?) Beyond the witty and sometimes profane banter between these two characters, both their intentions were made clear during the latter half of the film where Tristan and Lucia get into a deep conversation about their shared past. At one point in their conversation, Lucia accuses Tristan of always “preferring the tale to reality” where in it was implied that Tristan had never fully moved on from his past relationship with Lucia and that his ‘invitation’ to help her jumpstart her music career again was just a blatant attempt to spend time with the only woman he has ever truly loved.

“…prefer tale to reality”

This particular line in the film held on to me because of how it could be easily related to the black & white personalities of the two characters, and more importantly, how it relates to the two universal personalities in the line: “It takes two to break up a relationship”. Lucia, first and foremost, is established as the more dominant personality, the type of person that always gets away with what she wants, but never gets away with what she truly needs. She is the ‘reality’ aspect (case in point where her decision to leave her music career to start a family is constantly brought up). Whereas Tristan, the submissive, docile and timid personality, seems to be still stuck in the past – in love with Lucia and never truly contented with the present (as seen in the moments wherein he keeps meddling into Lucia’s personal life); he is the ‘tale’ aspect. The primary reason of break-ups in most relationships I’ve come to know both in real life and in fiction, are due to the pairing up of these two, unique personalities, and Casi 40 was remarkably accurate in attempting to portray that.

It is also worth mentioning that the title Casi 40 has both a literal and deeper meaning associated with it. It is amazing to see how each of the characters have taken a far different route in life than the other. With Lucia leading a life of reality and fulfillment and Tristan leading one that is not so, you would think it would’ve been awkward and uncomfortable for Tristan to even meet up with Lucia in the first place. But despite these differences, there was still that familiarity that comes with still being able to connect and laugh about the same things (particularly debating about if gyms are catalysts for health or physical beauty) just as how old friends should.

It is incredibly refreshing to witness what 20 years of separation can do to the relationship of two former lovers, and how oddly normal it is to stay the best of friends even after their strain in romance. It is in the authenticity and rawness that this film shows which makes this a story so relatable to any person of any background who knows what's like to find and then eventually lose a first love (and has been changed by it for the better).

Other thoughts:

For a musical drama, there was more silence than there was actual music. Throughout the entirety of the film, whether there was a tone of seriousness or lack thereof to any one scene, there was little to no background music or sound effects that accompanied it. The heaviness in dialogue was enough to evoke the audience’s emotions and did not seem to need any additional background music to help accentuate the tone. Instead, we are treated with original songs sung by Lucia, some even lasting its entire duration. It’s in this that I’ve come to realize that each song in sung in the film represents a different time in the lives of the protagonists (a good example of this is the contrasting ideas behind the first and last song played in the film. Though I’ve forgotten the title of the first song, it went along the lines and ideas of what it would be like for the singer to be 19 again while sung from a first POV and then comparing it to the last song sung in the film titled after the film’s namesake, whose lyrics would’ve meant that the singer is finally in a place of contentment in her life, hence almost 40.)

It was spectacularly breathtaking seeing Spain in all its splendor. The film did right to stray away from cityscapes and architecture and instead highlighting the grasslands and open fields of the country, which are clearly underrated. It also surprised me how the director opted for the least expected places for the characters to perform in during their ‘concert’ tour. Every time Lucia and Tristan would find a new bookstore to perform in I would find myself paying attention to the performances more closely (which may have been the reason why the director chose this route), contrary to a real on set stage or even a simple bar (as Lucia had expected from the start)

The camera shots! This film had the least mobility when it came to angles and video shots – the cameras only moved when the characters did, allowing for the audience to become part of the characters’ journey and experiences and feel every ounce of emotion the characters felt at each particular time.

Lastly, this film reminded so much of the movie Begin Again starring Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley - guy meets girl, guy helps girl, but guy and girl don’t end up being together - same banana. The only difference between the two is their different takes on embellishment of reality and maturity. Casi 40 to me had a far different outlook when it came to the deliverance of its message. You’d have to have actually experienced those situations and emotions for you to appreciate the film as it is, whereas in Begin Again, it was fairly easier to understand because of how direct to the point it is in terms of plot and storyline. I enjoyed both films though and that’s what matters.

Proof of Attendance:

Disclaimer: I’m so sorry sir I only read the guidelines right after I left so I don’t really have a picture of myself at the cinema 😭😢 Instead, I placed here a picture of my ticket, proof of reservation and claim from Sureseats, and just so that I am in the clear (hopefully), here’s a short video of my friend’s IG story taken from the day we attended the Spanish film fest.

Ticket

Proof of reservation and claim from sureseats

Video of me and my friends during spanish film fest (taken from my friend’s IG story) p.s. I'm the one wearing glasses

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