#and why is it in between me and Chris hemsworth???

[tonyee]

who the fuck told them to move the search button???

this is tumblr…i though we established that we don’t like change here

[bearbearhems]

Scrolling pinterest and got reminded that other dilfs can borrow me, but I really only belong to 2

[mickyschumacher]

𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒  .ೃ࿐

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: you were in love with f1's beloved honey badger and you had been for almost year. but why in the world had you instead fallen for his teammate? or in which infidelity has laid it's sticky little hands on you.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: slight angst, infidelity naturally, falling out of love, steamy makeout sesh, suggestive content, pining, sad boy hours for daniel, lando being kind of a sneaky bastard, age-gap between reader and boys (8 years for dan and 2 years for lan), reader born in australia, set in 2020/2021, false or incorrect marine biology lingo and protocols lol, mention of crossiant horner, poor explanation of f1, mentions of insecurity, proof-read...ish

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: daniel ricciardo x marine biologist!female reader, lando norris x marine biologist!female reader

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 4k+

𝐀/𝐍: i felt bad for not posting so here's me digging into my reserves! written when i did more song-based fics!! i wish life wasn't so busy 🤧 i have started a few thingsssssss but it's definitely going to be a while before i post them sorry 😣

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

⋆  •°.  。  .°•  ⋆

You, honestly, were a normal girl. Mundane as mundane gets. Never once had you imagined of cameras, headlines and the need for a PR specialist in your life.

But it's what you had gotten. That's what Daniel Ricciardo came with.

You had met the Australian on pure accident. It was late 2020 and the season had just come an end. Hamilton was a six-times World Champion and Daniel had his last season with Renault. He hadn't got the result he wanted but he was optimistic about his future with McLaren. So eventually, he headed home to Australia for the Christmas holidays.

Now you would like to consider yourself a well-versed Australian. Especially considering you were born there. Robert Irwin was the most beloved Australian for years to come and Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth were your Aussie reps in America.

Somehow, however, you had never really got F1 or Formula One. That's not to say you hadn't heard of it. Honestly, for the past few years it was difficult to pass Albert Park in the summer of March without it flashing in front of your eyes. But if someone were to ask you anything about it, you would blink blankly and apologise.

Which is exactly what you did in early December. You were out having lunch with your closest friends at a local cafe, catching up on the year in the fresh yet skin-damaging Aussie sun.

You were in midst conversation when a brunette girl politely interrupted you. "Hi, sorry. This is going to sound really weird. I'm doing this on a bet. But do all three of you know that man over there? In the hat?”

You looked over to her table full of people. It seemed like she was with her family and friends. You and your friends zoned on the man in the hat, a guy who was trying to not make it obvious that he was aware of what was going on.

You scrutinised him carefully and unsurprisingly, you didn’t know him. Surprisingly, you did find that he was attractive. The curly hair, the scruff… you wondered whether he was actually Australian because no men in Australia looked like that.

Your two friends nodded while confirming with one another. “It’s Daniel, right? The driver?” One of them asked.

Your other friend hummed in agreement.

The brunette looked over at you. You blinked at her as your face slowly morphed into an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

The brunette, which you expected to be somewhat sad about it, ended up smiling while your friends’ faces dropped.

“Thank you! Oh my god. You have no idea what you’ve just done!” The brunette laughed loudly, capturing the attention of her table. She pointed at the man in the hat, clutching her stomach. “She doesn’t know who you are, Danny. Take that!”

Similarly to your friends, the male’s face dropped. He looked at you and tilted his head.

When Daniel actually saw you for the first time, he was in shock. Not the type of shock of an Aussie not knowing who he was. But rather the shock of being in the presence as someone as beautiful as you.

Your eyes were tantalising and your apologetic expression was cute.

He waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s okay. I’m just an F1 driver.”

You nodded in slow understanding. Maybe you had in fact seen his posters in Albert Park. Honestly, you couldn’t be sure. Life as a marine biologist was busy and all over the place. Recognising celebrities or athletes was kind of the last thing on your mind.

━━━━━━━━━━━

That day you went home with the expectation of a normal tomorrow. One where you were out at the ocean and exploring the waters you had loved so much.

You wish you could say it came as a shock to see that same curly haired man on the wharf, but given the current temperatures that heavily contrasted your winter, it was reasonable as any other Aussie here.

What you didn’t expect was you passing him to get to your boat and then hearing a voice enter the air. “Hey! Excuse me. Sorry. You’re the girl from yesterday, right?”

You turned to the man, hand over your eyes to protect yourself from the harsh rays and take a closer look at him. Just in case it wasn’t him.

“Uh, yeah? You’re the driver, right?”

Daniel gave a wide smile, extending out his hand. “I’m Daniel. Daniel Ricciardo.”

Oh my. What a smile he had. The type to make you feel happy just by looking at it. You couldn’t even help but smile in response. You reached out to shake his hand, not ready to feel a weird sort of spark between the two of you.

“I... I’m Y/N. Nice to meet you.”

Daniel slowly removed his hand from yours, grabbing any last second he could. He eyed the briefcase and scuba gear in your hands. “You diving?”

You looked at your equipment. “Well, testing. I’m a marine biologist. Although, I guess I’m still diving.”

Daniel pursed his lips. Now he had to get to know you. You were beautiful and a marine biologist. An Aussie dream.

“Oh yeah? What are you testing?” He queried with a raised brow,

“Oh! Uh, currently things like the local fish populations in decline. Their habitat. Whether they’re safe or not. Algae growth. Predators. pH levels. All the fun stuff...” You sheepishly trailed off once you realised you began rambling.

You didn’t know but in that moment Daniel was in awe of you. The twinkle in your eyes that rose once you talked about your work. Like your work was your passion. That’s how he felt about F1.

You watched Daniel nod as if he were actually interested. “Do you mind if I come with? I won’t contaminate anything. Promise.”

You mended your brows together. It wasn’t uncommon for people to ask to join. But the way Daniel said it… like it was something he had to do or he would regret it for the rest of his life, you couldn’t help feel compelled. “Um, yeah. Do you not have to be on the road or something though? ‘Cause your a driver?”

“Oh F1 only goes between March and November. We’re on holiday at the moment. Well sort of.”

“Oh,” you mumbled out cluelessly. Your cheeks burned with a tinge of embarrassment. How had you managed to get through all these years of living and not known about this?

Daniel laughed lightly at the reddening of your cheeks. Just when he though he could find you any cuter. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you F1. And you can teach me the ocean.”

So the two of you went into your boat. The sun beat down onto you so harshly that for most of it, you had retreated to driving the vessel in the shade as Daniel sat next to you.

It had gone so well that this, whatever it was, became a regular occurrence after you exchanged numbers that day.

You were learning a lot about him and his job. He was actually Italian-Australian. He started this passion with go-karting. You found out F1 wasn’t just racing but it was racing to another extreme. 300 kph. God, getting your car to 100 kph for the open road was thrill enough for you.

That made Daniel wheeze with laughter and promise he would take you for a drive in a sports car to get a taste of the speed he craved for.

Apparently F1 had 10 teams, each with 2 drivers. In each of the teams, the drivers had the same car to drive, cars that were constructed originally by each team. The point of the races were for two championships. The Driver’s World Championship, the title the driver wanted to win, and the Constructors’ Championship, the title everyone from the driver to the team strategist wanted to win. They were calculated by the amount of points received by the drivers in the races.

All the races were settled through a long weekend of sorts. Fridays were for practices to see how the car was on the track as they had different conditions per track. Saturdays were for qualifying. Here, Daniel would push the car to its limits to get the fastest lap time as the drivers were ranked to then get a position for the actual race tomorrow. Sundays were where they raced for points.

All of it was slightly complex, especially with the penalties and rules that they followed. Buy you seemed to get the gist of it.

Daniel had learnt that you had grown up in Australia and like him had to travel a lot for your work. Weirdly, some times his race dates would match up with your travelling. Daniel chose to take that as a sign. You were 8 years younger than him, taking him by a slight surprise. You were 23 and he was 31. But it didn’t seem like it mattered to you. Communication between the two of you was a smooth sail.

Daniel even opened up about his time with Red Bull. A whirl of bad and annoying memories. But when you had said that you would like to see Christian Horner step on to your boat and throw him overboard into a tank of piranhas, only for thirty seconds of course, Daniel had never laughed harder.

━━━━━━━━━━━

By the billionth time you had hung out, the sun was setting in the evening, providing a refreshing cold breeze to match the heat. Christmas was close soon. And Daniel was aching to ask you out.

He had to go into this next season of driving knowing he had you by his side. Even his own family was pushing him to ask. Especially his sister, Michelle, who had dubbed herself the cupid as she was the very brunette who had technically introduced you two, or so she claimed.

The both of you had finished a dive and were heading to Daniel's car. You were supposed to have dinner with his family on this fine evening.

"You good, Danny?" You looked over to the man. Daniel, for the loud and outgoing person he was, was being rather quiet today. You couldn't really put your finger on why either. You took pride in being able to read people. But it looked like his mind was at some sort of battle.

He gave an idle hum, getting into the driver's seat.

You raised a brow, closing the door on the passenger side shut. Your hand reached out to his thigh, making him break his trance and flicker his eyes towards you.

"Listen, I don't know what it is or what's going on. But I'm all ears if you want," You smiled, patting his thigh. You went to remove your hand but Daniel placed his hand over yours, keeping you there.

Daniel's heart was in his throat. He was not normally a nervous man. He was the epitome of confidence. But you seemed to tear that down, in the nicest way, quite easily.

Daniel absorbed your curious eyes before releasing a shaky breath. "Uh," he awkwardly chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not normally like this. I can't really explain it... but these past few weeks, I... I haven't felt like this in a really long time. With you I feel free... happy... I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really like you. And even if I'm ancient, I would really like to be with you. You know. Together. If that wasn't clear."

The smile on your face the moment you realised what was going on hadn't stopped growing. You watches his eyes dart around, looking for a signal of anything. A yes. A no.

You looked down at your hands. The warmth of his spread among your one. You turned your hand to intertwine them with his and squeezed his hand, looking back up at him. "I think you took the words right out my mouth. I like you too, Danny. A lot. Even as an 'old ass man.'"

An odd silence settled within the car as Daniel simply stared at you, honey brown eyes hold your own.

"Danny? Are you okay?"

Daniel's eyes turned into crescents while his infamous wide smile sprawled onto your face. "Can I kiss you?"

You stilled in the passenger seat. Your eyes flickered to his lips before meeting his eyes once again. You weren't sure if you could trust your voice at the moment so you gave a curt nod.

Daniel smiled softly at the flustered expression you sported. Instead of leaning his head in like you expected to, he reached over to your seat and lifted you out of it. You released a small yelp before landing onto his lap, straddling his crotch as you faced towards him.

Daniel's fingers played with the slightly dampened tresses that had fallen around your face and pushed them behind your ears. His fingers trailed down to your heated cheeks and to your jaw. Bringing you closer to him, he leaned his head towards you.

Daniel's lips fell into yours. His hands soon fell to your back as your arms snaked his neck. The world... your surroundings were all gone. All you could feel was each other. His fingers sneaking past the hem of your shirt and grazing your bare skin. The action sent a wave of heat within you.

You let out a small muffled moan causing Daniel to adjust himself in his seat. A bulge had formed in his pants, aching at your touch. You released yourself from him for a gasp of air, which fell into further pleasurable gasps as Daniel's swollen lips had found your neck, leaving a trail of small sloppy kisses.

Daniel rested his chin onto your shoulder before pulling back to look at you. He grinned at your dazed expression. "As much as I would like to continue this in such a fitting setting like a car, I would rather our first time in an actual bed."

You let out a small laugh, feeling yourself fluster even further while you gave him a tight hug.

And that's how your relationship had started. Since then, it had been almost a year. In that year, you had gotten impossibly closer. You had visited his races without telling him because you were scared. You were scared of distracting him and scared for him. The first F1 race you went to matched up to your meetings with other marine biologists and techs in Spain. God, you didn't know cars could even go that fast. The occasional toss of a car to the side sent fear coursing through you.

Eventually, Daniel had found out and reassured you that you being there wouldn't harm anything. In fact, the thought of it calmed him down and encouraged him. He had even introduced you to some of the team and whispered in your ear when he pointed to Red Bull's team principal.

"Oh... so that's the man going overboard. That's a shame. You didn't tell me he look like a sea otter. Sea otters are supposed look cute. I'll just pretend he's plant plankton."

Daniel had never laughed harder at something. Just when he thought he couldn't love you more. God, you were a sight to behold. He would never understand how you managed to be who you were.

You had felt the same.

Well, at least that was until when you met his new teammate in McLaren, Lando Norris.

Lando was two years younger than you and what some people called the British Ricciardo. He was constantly smiling and cracking jokes. He was the moodmaker.

The vibe he had was like an annoying little brother of a sort.

But people obviously didn't feel attracted to someone if they truly thought of them like that.

You shouldn't feel this way. It was wrong. You had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who adored you. You had tried to keep yourself occupied with your job to avoid having to attend too many races and meet the McLaren team, in fear of meeting Lando.

But of course, how were you going to refuse to celebrate Lando's 2nd podium of the year in Monaco when Daniel asked?

So here you were. In a club dressed in a cream coloured set: a long sleeved bralette and a long skirt starting from your waist, ending just before your heels with a slit in the middle.

The compliment you had received in your ear from Daniel made you wish you could say you were dressed for him in the first place. But it would be a lie to say that.

You had navigated yourself around the club to drown yourself in some alcohol. You needed a distraction and you felt that being some what drunk and out of it would've helped.

you should take it as a compliment that i got drunk and made fun of the way you talk. you should think about the consequence of your magnetic field being a little too strong. and i got a boyfriend, he's older than us he's in the club doing, i don't know what you're so cool, it makes me hate you so much.

You were out of it for sure. Because sober you did not have the guts you had right now. The guts to not only sit at the same table as Lando but next to him and make fun of his British accent with Carlos.

"No, Carlos. I'm pretty sure he sounded like 'No no no... you ruined my ice cream,'" You laughed lightly as the Spaniard refused to agree with you.

"No he has bit of a weird sound at the 'ruined' part. He sound like those kids in the UK... on the road? What are they again..."

Lando's face burst with amusement. He laughed so hard, he had to prevent his cup from falling out of his hand. "Do you mean..." He gasped for air, "Roadmen?"

Jesus. Carlos Sainz discussing roadmen was the funniest thing that had happened so far.

You weren't sure where Daniel was even. All you knew he was probably talking to some other team member of McLaren. You were rather preoccupied and entranced by the British male next to you.

You couldn't explain it but it was as if there was a magnetic field around him and you, like an element, were simply attracted to him. As if there was no other path to go. He made you laugh differently. Feel differently. He was also a looker. That boyish charm that simply pulled you in. It made you wonder how strong his magnetic field was.

The science of it was simple. You may be a marine biologist but you hadn't flunked physics. The stronger the intensity of a field, the further the magnet, Lando, will be able to attract elements, like you. All you knew was that he was strong enough to inexplicably take you attention away from your own boyfriend.

you're so gorgeous i can't say anything to your face 'cause look at your face. and i'm so furious at you for making me feel this way but what can i say? you're gorgeous.

This attraction you felt to Lando what ridiculous in itself. But you had felt it from when you first met him and you felt it now. Lando was simply gorgeous. His smile was breathtaking. His laugh felt pretty.

And it infuriated you. You wanted to yell at him, tell him to stop. These feelings, this flutter, this tingle... make it all stop, you wanted to say.

But you could never say that to his face. How could you? Those same things came back every time you looked at him.

The smile. The flutter. The tingle.

You wondered whether he had even looked at himself in the mirror. You wondered whether ever had felt insecure about the way he looked and that if he did, you wished he hadn't.

Everything thing about him was simply enticing. A delightful view... from the arms of Daniel.

you should take it as a compliment that i'm talking to everyone here but you. and you should think about the consequence of you touching my hand in a darkened room. if you've got a girlfriend, i'm jealous of her. but if you're single that's honestly worse. 'cause you're so gorgeous it actually hurts.

This feeling... this infatuation was overwhelming for you. You were a taken girl. You had even made it was to the multiple Instagram F1 'WAGs' accounts and were met with the most glorious welcomes by fans.

You needed to get a grip on yourself for Christ's sake. Lando was also taken. Even if he was single, which if you were being honest was an insult to romance itself, you didn't have a chance let alone now. No matter how jealous you were, you had to be realistic. You paled in comparison to the fame Portuguese models that F1 drivers often found themselves with.

Of course, you had to admit they were beautiful. You had no conflict with them. They weren't your classic mean girls. They were impossibly nice and you even found yourself in some interesting conversations. But at the end of the day, you were simply a marine biologist.

So in the darkness of the club, you had managed to isolate yourself from Lando, who had gone with Pierre somewhere, and made the struggling and gruelling effort to talk to anyone else but him. You had conversed with Carlos before he had gone somewhere with his girlfriend. You had settle for Charles as a distraction.

Charles was a pleasure to talk to. As always, he was also so kind and sweet with his words. The type you were sure that when you looked at the, you knew that their mother raised them right.

Daniel had finally found his way to you, mentioning that Zak Brown had just pulled him aside for a talking to. You asked if he was okay, in which he responded with a smile and said: "Now that I'm with you, yes."

You managed to give him a soft and believable smile. Daniel was standing behind you, joining in your conversation with Charles. It wasn't until you were in the midst of a conversation about life in Monaco that you felt a hand on yours.

You smiled gently, expecting it to be Daniel's but instead it was Lando's.

ocean blue eyes looking in mine. i feel like i might sink and drown and die.

Your eyes snapped up to meet Lando's face. His blue eyes bore into yours.

Those goddamn eyes of his would be the end of you. The similarity of them to the oceans you had travelled and the beautiful creatures you had seen was uncanny.

Your heart paced furiously against your chest. He must've been drunk or tipsy to the very least to stumble onto you. There was no way he had purposely wanted you to drown in his eyes.

You sucked in a quiet sharp breath and edged to removed your hand. But as quickly as you had made that decision, the gnawing feeling at your heart had grown more intense and taunted you. Lando's hand hurried to grab yours and place it back where it was.

Your eyes shook with awe and lingered with a dangerous thrill. You could feel his fingers rub the back of your hand gently before intertwining them.

You looked blankly at the table in front of you while Lando had joined in the conversation so casually, like nothing was even going on. You had to thank your stars that the club was able to be as dark as it was.

A lot of the noise around you had turned into white noise and blurs of sound. Charles must've complimented you as you had managed to capture some mention of fish and coral reefs from your boyfriend.

you make me so happy it turns back to sad. there's nothing i hate more than what i can't have and you are so gorgeous, it makes me so mad. you make me so happy it turns back to sad. there's nothing i hate more than what i can't have and guess i'll just stumble on home to my cats alone unless, you wanna come along?

It was Daniel kissing your cheek fondly and Lando's hand grazing your knee under the table that had brought you back to reality.

The happiness and adrenaline you felt was wrong. You knew with every crevice and fibre of your body that this had to stop. This attraction and sickly sweet infatuation with Lando. God, he just made you so fuzzy. You could barely think straight.

You were stuck in between two men who had their touch on you. It wasn't right. As much as you liked Lando, he angered your entire being. He had simply waltzed into your life. He was playing along with your feelings.

Lando's damning eyes averted to you when he felt your hand slip away from him forcefully.

You hoped the guilt in your eyes shone as much as they could in this darkness.

You were going to have to break up with a man who would give you everything. You would have to leave all of... this... and get away from here.

You needed everything to return to normal. You had no idea how exactly you were going to explain a sudden return home without inflicting any suspicion.

All you knew now was that you had to make a lengthy apology to a man you had not realised you had fallen out of love with.

You supposed that was love.

Love was a bittersweet feeling. It was beautiful and fluttering but brought a lot of tragedy and strife along with it.

That was love: simply gorgeous.

© 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑

[ladykailitha]

A Love Connection Part 6

Woohoo!! We're really into the thick of it now. Everything is going to heat up from here. Again, heads up for the spicy talk.

In this we have the second half of round one and all of round three getting to the two that earned dates.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

~

Steve had a stack of questions on his lap and was sorting through it to decide which questions to ask each Suitor, once he was ready, he nodded to Bob.

“Welcome to the heart to heart where our Catch gets to delve deep with each Suitor and get to the real meat of each one. Each Suitor will be asked five questions over the course of the round and their answers rated.”

“Billy if music was played every time you walked into a room,” Steve asked, “what would it be and why?”

“‘Bringing Sexy Back’ by Justin Timberlake,” Billy replied. “Because wait until you see me.”

Steve fanned himself with one of the ranking boards. Each little sign was round with a number from one to three on them. A number one got three points and so on. “Three points for sure!”

Bob wagged his eyebrows. “Hell, yeah. I’ve seen him and yeah, definitely not beating the allegations.”

The audience wolf whistled and cheered.

“Tommy, who is the best famous Chris?” Steve asked. He was starting slow, getting a feel for their answers.

“Evans,” Tommy said. “Those blue eyes and chiseled jaw? Smoking hot, man.”

“That is Hemsworth erasure!” Bob protested. “And I won’t stand for it!” He stomped his foot and pouted.

Steve leaned into the microphone. “The correct answer is Pine. Have you seen him lately? He is a complete silver fox these days!”

The audience seemed to agree with Steve as they whistled and cheered for that response.

“Doesn’t hurt he was in both Star Trek and the D&D movie,” Eddie added brightly.

Steve laughed. “That too! I’m going to give Tommy two points for that one because Evans is pretty easy on the eyes.”

“How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop?” Steve asked, trying to stifle a giggle. He didn’t quite manage. Most because Eddie started giggling too.

“One,” then a licking sound, “two,” then a another licking sound, “three,” another licking sound, “CRUNCH!” He giggled again. “Three!”

The audience politely clapped and Bob winced. “Well that dates this crowd, ouch! Do yourselves a favor and look up Toostie Pop owl. You’ll thank me later!”

Steve laughed, his nose scrunching in amusement. “Yay! I was really hoping you were going to do it that way. Three points for sure.”

“I aim to please.” It was said in a lower octave that sent a shiver down Steve’s spine as if the that wasn’t the only thing he aimed to do.

“Billy,” Steve said clearing his throat. “What is your favorite thing to watch on a lazy Sunday morning?”

“I usually like to catch whatever game is on,” Billy said, then paused. Steve could imagine him licking his lips. “Or if there is two of us, nothing like a porno to get the engines running if you know what I mean.”

Bob wagged his eyebrows. “Someone likes getting a little action. Very nice.”

Steve on the other hand was bright red. He shuffled through the number signs. “Two points.” Looked down to hide how much the comment embarrassed him.

“Tommy,” he said roughly, “if you were in a relationship right now, who would be your celebrity pass?”

“What’s that?” Tommy asked confused. “I’m not sure what that is.”

Bob smirked at the camera. “Well, Tommy it’s if you were in a committed relationship and there was a famous person who wanted to sleep with your significant other for just one night, who would that be for you? Like between me and my wife, if Winona Ryder wanted to sleep with me, I would get a free pass to sleep with her without my wife saying I cheated on her. Hers is Chris Hemsworth.”

Tommy laughed. “Yeah, all right. I get it now. We all know Stevie’s would be Chris Pine.” Steve blushed again. “Um...Michael Sheen in his Lucian from ‘Underworld’ leathers. Hell yeah.”

“Three points because hell yeah,” Steve agreed.

“Eddie, what is one thing everyone should try once?” Steve asked. This was Mike’s question and the last one from the kids.

“D&D,” Eddie said. “Pick any edition that makes you feel comfortable but for beginners I would definitely avoid anything pre-2000 as it’s a lot harder, but just let someone you trust run a game for you get you involved in the process and see how you like it.”

Steve and Bob shared a look of amazement at his answer, they were both expecting something a little more deep, but instead it was quirky and fun.

“Three points for sure,” Steve said, more than a little awed. “Some of the kids in my classes play it and they would love to meet someone as passionate about it as they are.”

“Hey,” Eddie said warmly, “even if this gig doesn’t work out, give me a call and I’ll happily come run a game for your kids.”

Steve blushed even harder. How was he supposed to recover from that? “I might just take you up on that.”

“Any time,” Eddie positively purred.

Bob grabbed one Steve’s signs as the audience laughed to Bob fanning himself with the number one.

“Did it just get hot in here?”

“Right!” Steve said with forced cheer, trying to move this along. “Billy if you had the chance to relive one day of your life what would it be and why?” He figured that was a safe enough question. Or at least enough of distraction from how hot this Eddie was sounding.

“Oh that’s easy,” Billy said, low and dark. “My twenty-fifth birthday, I had low, slow, deep sex with twins from Morocco. We fucked all day. Man, those boys could bend.”

“Jeez,” Bob huffed, “how do you sleep if you’re getting so much sex?”

“With my dick in their ass or their mouth on my dick,” Billy said darkly.

As much as Steve would like to say that was unexpected, it was really wasn’t. Not coming from Billy. But he also knew that he was just as much of horn dog. “Two points.” The two sign was getting a lot of use today.

Billy chuckled. “I’ll convert you yet, Steve. Just give me the chance and I’ll blow your world. I would love to fuck you slowly, baby.”

“Wow,” Bob said and then pursed his lips, cocking his head to the side. “That was certainly something.”

Steve’s left hand fisted his slacks as he tried to tramp down on his embarrassment yet again. “Tommy, what would you make for breakfast for a date who spent the night for the first time?”

Tommy let out a low whistle. “That’s a good one. I would make chocolate chip pancakes with real maple syrup from Vermont with scrambled quail eggs, and freshly cut pork shoulder bacon. For the drink you can either freshly squeezed orange juice, without the pulp of course or Colombian coffee home ground with just a hint of vanilla.”

“That’s certainly a fancy spread,” Bob replied, he turned to Steve. “And how would we rank his answer?”

Steve grimaced. He hated all that pretentious stuff. Just give him buttered toast and a cup of hot coffee and he’d love them forever. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “One point. I’m just a middle school teacher from Indiana. I don’t need anything fancy.”

He closed his eyes as the silence stretched a little thin. Then Bob was clearing his throat. His eyes shot open. Right. He had a show to finish.

“Eddie,” Steve said, throwing out the previous question about a road trip, “how do you feel about kids?”

“Can you clarify?” Eddie asked softly. “Like do I want them? Or just kids in general?”

Steve blushed at his warm tone. He had never blushed so much in his life. He cleared his throat. “Well it was kids in general, because you wanted to come DM for a few of them, but you can answer the former, too if you wanted.”

Bob’s eyes went wide as he turned to the camera and the audience oohed.

“That’s fair,” Eddie said with a laugh. “I love kids. I love their devious little minds. DM’ing for kids is more fun because they’ll come up with the weirdest shit imaignable to get out of the most mundane situations. I just love that. Little girls are scary in that regard though. They’ll befriend the local wolf pack and the next thing you know, they’ve taken over the world.”

Steve laughed. Yeah, that tracked from what he saw in his own students. As long little girls didn’t have parents or teachers trying to beat that out of them, they absolutely would take over the world.

“And as for the other question,” Eddie said seriously, “yeah sure. I’d love to adopt specifically. Kids like me, who if I didn’t land in with my uncle at an early age, I would have been that troubled kid.” He cleared his throat. “So yeah. I’d love to have kids.”

Steve wiped away a tear. “Three points.”

“He better have gotten full points for that answer,” Bob huffed. “That was the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard on this show.”

Steve could only agree, especially in its sincerity.

“Billy, what is the hottest thing anyone has done for you?”

“Ooh, spicy!” Bob said.

“That’s a tough question, babe,” Billy said, his voice dark and sultry. “I’ve had a lot of hot things that boys have done to me.”

“Most recent then,” Steve said with a huff of laughter. This balls on this guy must be larger than his head. If there was anyone who matched Dustin’s ego it was definitely this dude.

“Now that one was fun,” Billy said. “I had a guy that I sat next to on a long flight from Hawaii to LA. It was a red eye so there was only the two of us in first class. He gave me a blowjob when all the lights went down. Definitely in my top ten blowjobs, too.”

Steve’s nose wrinkled, but he did ask for it. “Two points. Not into semi-public to public sex.”

Billy laughed. “To each their own, doll.”

“Tommy,” Steve said just plowing through to the next question. “If you had a million dollars to give away, where you give it and why?”

“Only a million?” Tommy said with a scoff. “I do that yearly, anyway. Some of my favorite charities are youth after school programs and cancer research.”

Steve sighed. There was that push to show how much money he had. He really wondered if this guy was happy. “Three points.” But only because if he had given any less there would be a riot. But it was obvious he only picked those things because saying what he really would have given the money to probably would have raised some red flags.

“Eddie,” he said, “here’s a fun question for you. Who do you think killed Pres. Kennedy?”

“Ooh, sweetheart,” Eddie cooed. “You certainly know the way to a man’s heart. Conspiracy theories are my jam. Not because I believe in them, but because they are so fascinating. But in this case there is no doubt there was a hell of a cover up. A warehouse worth of evidence and it disappears before it can be declassified? Nah, fam. So, I’m going to say it was CIA. JFK was going to win the next election and they couldn’t have that. So they had him killed.”

Steve laughed. “That tracks. Thanks!”

“You’re welcome,” Eddie said brightly. “That was a fun question.”

“All right,” Bob said, “we are going into the last question for all three of our Suitors. Our current totals are: Eddie with fifty-seven, the clear runaway leader. Billy with thirty-seven, and Tommy with thirty-six. It’s down to this last question who will get the chance to go on the date with Steve, Billy or Tommy. All righty, Steve. Lay those last questions on our Suitors.”

Steve had originally had a different question for Billy, but after all the unhinged sexual answers he decided he had a better question for the man whore. “Billy, how do you feel about male lingerie?”

“Male lingerie?” Billy said in confusion. “I thought lingerie was only for chicks, not dudes.”

“Well, Billy,” Bob said with a smile, “there has been a recent development where men wanted to feel sexy, too. But lingerie is designed for breasts and wider hips, things that would look bad if a man tried wearing them. So designers came up with silky underwear that fit a man’s body.”

“Hmm,” Billy said thoughtfully. “Who would be wearing the male lingerie? Because that would determine how I feel about them.”

Gotcha! Steve thought. “Me.”

“It would be nice for to come home to,” Billy said, “the once. Then I would rip it off you and fuck you into the mattress.”

Steve was a little disappointed in the answer. His lip quivered and he bit it.

“I would buy you as many as you wanted,” Eddie said softly. “I know it’s not my turn, but babe. I’d buy them in different styles and different colors and lovingly remove them each time to keep them safe.”

Steve smiled. “Thanks, Eddie. Two points to Billy. For the great sex afterwards I guess.”

“Get me to the dating round, doll,” Billy huffed, “and I’ll make you a believer.”

“Tommy what was your dream job when you were a kid?” Steve was hoping for something sincere for a change.

“Rich and famous,” Tommy said with a laugh. “Didn’t everyone?”

Bob and Steve shared a concerned glance.

“No,” Steve said slowly. “I always wanted to be a teacher. Or an archaeologist. Until I found out about the math.” He shuddered. “One point.”

“I think that cinches it for Billy to go on to the date round,” Bob said, “we’ll still have our catch ask his last que–”

“Wait!” Tommy said. “I know it won’t change anything, even if I get three points Billy still wins by one. But can I change my answer?”

“It would technically be a tie,” Bob said gently, “so I can’t have Steve change your points, but go ahead.”

Tommy was silent for a moment. “I wanted to be a fireman. I know most boys did at a certain age, but I really wanted to be a fireman. But my dad was a banker, so he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. So instead of training to be a firefighter out of high school I went to college.”

Steve heart broke just a little. “That sounds sweet, Tommy.”

“Thanks,” Tommy said with a sniffle.

“All right, Eddie,” Steve said gently steering the conversation back to the game. “If we were to get matching tattoos, what would it be and why?”

“A tattoo question for little me?” Eddie asked gleefully. “Did you peek? You did, didn’t you? You saucy thing.”

Bob laughed. “Nope, apparently Mr. Middle School Teacher here has a tattoo on his forearm.”

Eddie giggled and stomped his feet excitedly. “I guess it would depend how far we are into dating we were. But definitely not each other’s names. That’s just asking for trouble. I’d say... hmmm... a little half heart on the inside of the wrist, so that when we hold hands they form a complete heart.”

“Dude,” Bob said, “are you for real? This show has never had a score as high as yours in the history of its run. Billy can only hope you spill wine on Steve’s lap on your date in two days otherwise you’re going to be really hard to beat.”

Eddie chuckled. “I’m just me, man. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Well I know what I want to say,” Steve said a little breathless. “Three points.”

“And there we have it,” Bob said to the camera. “Tomorrow Billy will pick up Steve from his hotel lobby in his fancy Camero to wine and dine Steve. We will fly Eddie out to Hawkins tomorrow so he can pump your best friend Robin for all your favorite things to do and the best place for a picnic. Then miniature golf and dinner at the local diner, Benny’s. Then you’ll both fly back here for the finale where Steve will reveal who his love connection is!”

~

Part 7 Part 8

Tag List: CLOSED

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10- @ollieolive @dissociatingdemon @stripey82 @kultiras @micheledawn1975

[muddyorbsblr]

charades

'one look and they'll know' collection masterlist See my full list of works here!

Placement: pre-relationship era; months before 'one look and they'll know'

Summary: After a particularly horrible day on set, Chris extends an invitation for you to join the cast in a game of charades to unwind.

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Word Count: 1.9k

Warning/s: workplace bullying (mentioned); language [let me know if I missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: hints of mutual pining; we're in Hemsworth's POV

"Come on, it'll be fun, Tiny Terror, I promise." Chris gave your shoulders a slight shake to hopefully snap you out of the sour mood you'd been in all day. It was more than obvious why, considering that there were a good few production assistants that looked like they were on their own personal mission to get you to break composure and break a nose, constantly putting your team down for working too slow or some other reason.

One of them even tried insisting that there were props out of place so they could call into question your skill in clocking the continuity between shots. And while it was simple enough to debunk their accusations, it had also been a rather tedious day even just watching all of the little inconveniences happen that seemed hellbent on putting a damper to your day. He couldn't imagine how much more stressful it was in your shoes.

You were only allowed a few minutes to breathe without much worry when those assistants were pulled aside for Taika to have a word with them. Because other than him, there was someone else that not only witnessed the borderline harassment that occurred today, but was damn near foaming at the mouth to start snapping at them for their insolence.

Tom.

And right now Chris could only imagine that the Brit was standing at full height putting forward every single intimidation tactic he had on display at those people and asking them point blank if they had some sort of issue with you.

"I really don't know, Hemsy, it's been a long day. I kinda just want it to be over," you sighed, the facade you'd put in place of trying to look unbothered finally cracking as your shoulders slumped. "No idea who fucking pissed in their cereal this morning but if their goal was to drag someone down with them, they fucking succeeded. Just wanna go back to my hotel room and order a big bowl of pasta and a bottle of wine and turn my phone off until tomorrow morning."

"Alright, how about this. Just a few rounds, and if you hate it, I'll pay for your pasta and wine?"

You paused, thinking over his offer for a few seconds before finally sighing, "Fine. Thirty minutes. But if I tell you I wanna go, you better be ready to order me the fattest bowl of truffle cream pasta you can find."

Just as you walked off back to your team, Taika and Tom came out of one of the back offices where they sequestered the offending crew members. There were visible scowls on their faces as they muttered to themselves while Taika whispered some instructions to security, probably telling them to keep an eye on the troublemakers moving forward.

"Saw you talking to Lil Mayhem," Taika spoke up once he stood where you did just a few moments ago. "She alright?"

Had the situation not been so tense, Chris probably would have poked a bit of fun at the way Tom's face became visibly more animated as he scanned the set trying to find you. If the Brit became even the slightest bit more enamored with you and still refused to do anything about it, he might have to tell you himself just to caution you that if you didn't feel the same way, you'd have to let him down gently. And preferably sooner rather than later.

"She will be," Chris answered. "She's joining us later."

"Ah perfect," the New Zealander exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "We can pair her off with Tom."

"Hmm?" There was an alarmed look in Tom's eyes now, the sound coming out of him uncharacteristically higher pitched than normal.

"Oh come on, mate, did you really think nobody noticed? You look at her like a pup, wagging its tail and jumping in place when its mum comes home." Chris clapped a hand down on his shoulder, trying not to laugh at how mortified he looked finding out his subtle "work crush" on you wasn't exactly that subtle. "Just don't go humping her leg when she walks in."

"Oh my God, yes you're here too," Tessa exclaimed when you walked into Taika's suite, doing a little bounce on her place at the couch and patting the seat beside her. "We can be partners and smoke their asses."

"Hemsworth promised to buy me pasta if I hated it," you told her with a shrug, sitting at the vacant seat. You didn't seem to have noticed that Tom had moved over, making room next to him on the other side of the table. "And I'm not one to turn down free food."

"Tessa you're already partnered with Chris over here," Taika informed her, pointing at the Australian.

"Hold on since when?" He simply showed her a paper containing all your names, your eyes widening slightly when you saw that yours was next to Tom's. "Fine," she huffed, shifting her gaze over to Chris. "We got this."

Taika then presented a little fishbowl containing folded scraps of paper and explained that a single turn would consist of each of you picking out a paper and trying to sign out whatever was on their paper, while the other had to guess what it was. Straightforward enough. "Whoever's signing cannot talk, but they can make sounds if they think it'll help," he kept on explaining. "Winning pair will get…a nice swanky dinner for two when we get to LA for the premiere. Sound good?"

Lay it on a little thicker, Taika, I don't think they're catching on yet, Chris thought sarcastically, immediately clocking the way your cheeks were reddening and Tom was without a doubt imagining what it would be like to be sitting across from you in a fancy restaurant, imagining that you two were on a proper date. What with the way he couldn't keep his eyes off of you, along with that dopey lovestruck smile painting his face every time you even shared the same breathing space, it wasn't that hard to take a guess what the Brit was thinking right at this moment.

Once everyone had a scrap of paper in their hand, Taika spun a little wheel of your names to pick out which pair went first. "Alrighty then, Tom? Y/N? Which one of you'll be guessing first?"

"Oh, uhm…can I guess first? 'Cause I can't sign for shit."  Your request as you addressed Tom sounded casual enough, had it not been for the chuckle at the end that immediately had both Chris and Taika knowing much better than to mistake your demeanor for 'casual'. Seemed you were as skittish around Tom as he was around you.

And maybe Chris didn't have to interfere and advise you to let his friend down easy after all. Maybe he just had to sit back and let you two find each other at your own pace.

Though admittedly this was the type of behavior that started out cute but would grow frustrating to watch if it went on for too long. If neither of you made a move in the coming weeks he might be tempted to lock you two in a cramped storage closet to move things along.

Tom stood up from his seat, cheeks quickly becoming tinged with pink when he saw the words on his little scrap of paper before looking up and holding your gaze. On a whim, Chris decided to take his phone out and have his camera at the ready.

The chime on Taika's phone signaled him to start, and he held up five fingers in front of you.

"Five words." He then nodded and held up one finger before creating a letter "T" with his hands. "First word 'The'." He held up four fingers next and did the "T" symbol again. "And fourth word 'The'. So 'The Blank-Blank The Blank'?"

He nodded at you, a light shining in both your eyes as he kept on, like a couple of kids excited they found someone to play with. But then when Tom went on to sign the second word, for a split second you gave him a look that had everyone in the room that paid even the smallest amount of attention that his affections were definitely not one-sided.

You were well on your way to being completely smitten with him, too.

He held up two fingers before making a lassoing motion and snapping his fingers so loud that the sound made your neck twitch, your eyes glazing over as he pointed to the space in front of him. "Uh…uhm…Capture?" He shook his head, repeating the motion again. "Herding?" He shook his head again. "Collaring--Cowboy?" He let out a laugh before shaking his head again. "Okay I don't think I'm gonna get that, maybe another word we're running out of time."

Tom took a deep breath, as if composing himself before holding up five fingers. And then he drew his hands close to his chest and started making the most ridiculous sound with his head tilted to the ceiling. "Ememememe omomomomo".

That had you bursting into a fit of giggles, making him break out into a face-splitting grin and a few chuckles of his own. "I'm sorry I got absolutely nothing on that, go back to the second word." He went back to the lassoing and snapping movement. "Wait is this for a person or an animal?" He made a motion as if weighing an object in each of his hands, signaling to you that it was both. "Both?! Okay so…domestication?" He shook his head, but motioning for you to keep going down that route. "The--Taming?" Then you gasped, standing up right as two seconds were left on the clock, clapping your hands. "The Taming of the Shrew! The Taming of the Shrew!"

Out of the sheer excitement in the moment, he made his way around the table, grasping for your hands before framing your face in his hands. Had you both lost yourselves in the moment for even a few seconds longer, Chris would have bet good money that you two would have shared a kiss right in front of them.

But then both of you froze in place, giving each other an awkward smile before he stepped back, making his way back to where he stood seconds before. Good thing Chris already had his phone in hand and snapped a photo before your mutual shyness toward each other got the better of you.

"Cute," Taika commented, throwing Tom a look. "Alrighty then Y/N, it's your turn now."

You stood, looking at your scrap of paper and then looking around the room, your eyes landing on the decorative skull flower vase on the dining table.

Before you could signal for Taika to start the clock, Tom spoke up, "Hamlet?"

A choked sound of utter shock slipped out of everyone else in the room. "Hold up, that counts right, T?" Taika just nodded.

"How the fuck--Are you two telepathically connected or something?" Tessa threw the question out, pointing her finger at both of you. "You know what it doesn't matter, the night's still young. We still got a chance to smoke 'em, Hemsworth."

Chris wasn't paying much attention, shooting you a text instead. So you wanna cash in on that free food, Tiny Terror?

He had to fight back the knowing grin that pulled at the corners of his mouth seeing the message you typed back. I could stay a few more rounds.

A/N: I did mention before that I have some pre-relationship chapters planned for these two blorbos, right? 👀 Well if I didn't, I'm saying it now. Chapters. Plural. I honestly don't know how many pieces I have in store for this collection but safe to say it's not ending any time soon. 😳💖

'everything' taglist: @simplyholl @loopsisloops @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @vickie5446 @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @kats72 @kikster606 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @lovingchoices14 @lunarnights95 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @mygfloki @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th  @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @elizabethmidnight2017 @holdmytesseract @smolvenger @gigglingtiggerv2 @lokidokieokie @lunarnights95 @superficialdomina @kmc1989 @november-rayne @goddessofwonderland @buttercupcookies-blog @peaky-marvel @lokiified @tom-hlover @dryyoursaltyoceantears @herdetectivetheorist

[bibliophilesince2003]

Transformers One In-Depth Review

Transformers One is a must watch.

I’m tired of seeing a bad review go towards a movie that is actually extremely well done, especially if the reviewer hadn’t taken the time to watch it or considered the trailers enough content to draw a review from.

Seriously, it was so refreshing to see a new take on a franchise that has been around for years. In my personal opinion, it’s better than re-makes that offer even less room for creativity.

I am a huge Transformers fan. I grew up with Transformers Prime, and when I was older, I watched the movies. I’ve watched other shows here and there, and while I may not be a complete expert, I know the lore well enough to have been heavily, emotionally impacted by Transformers One.

I’ll start with the "non-spoiler take" followed by the "spoiler take” which will be “hidden” for those who do not want to be spoiled.

"Non-spoiler" take...

Peter Cullen’s voice is legendary. Chris Hemsworth himself acknowledged this in an interview, mentioning that the goal was to “re-create” and “do something new.” He intended to represent a “youthful, brash, and cocky version” of Orion Pax before he was known as Optimus Prime. This is a realistic representation. In Transformers Prime, Ratchet states that Optimus Prime was more like Jack in his youth. For those of you who don’t know, Jack is a strong-willed, selfless, but slightly impulsive teenager, as all teenagers should be. It is clear that Hemsworth has evaluated “hints” that other movies and shows have provided. Hemsworth wanted to “lean into” a more serious voice towards the end of Transformers One. He insisted “he wouldn’t dare mimic Peter Cullen.” I highly respect his choices, and he does not deserve the amount of hate thrown at him. Now, Orion Pax also comes across as a humble, soft-spoken character in other movies and shows. However, I can see why they would lean into his impulsiveness to better highlight and contrast the relationship between Orion Pax and D-16, especially as D-16’s true colors show. More about that in the “spoiler” section, though!

No, it would not have made sense for Orion Pax to have a deep, majestic voice. That comes with experience; that comes with hard decisions. Quite honestly, Hemsworth is pretty close to what I had imagined Orion Pax to sound like. It’s still slightly deep, and very soothing.

The character development in this movie? Oh. My. Word. Guys, as a writer, I can say that subtle character development – the best kind – is not easy to do. In Transformers One, it flowed naturally. It made me smile. It broke my heart. If you’ve seen other Transformers movies and shows, brace yourself. If you haven’t, still brace yourself. Again, more about that in the “spoiler” section.

The humor in the trailers has been re-posted so heavily I think it’s beginning to lose its effect and people, not knowing the context, are quick to judge. Yes, Bee is funny. It’s Bee. He’s supposed to be lovable, humorous, loyal, and powerful. I found no issue with most of the humor coming from him. There is more humor that is not mentioned in the trailers that is really worth chuckling over.

Finally, the fight scenes were clean, the animation was captivating, and the incredible Brian Tyler produced musical masterpieces for most every scene, some of it connecting to other movies and shows.

"Spoiler" take, now!

I expected to dislike Elita. Really, I did. I knew she was the “love interest” for Optimus Prime beforehand and expected big things from her, because Optimus Prime never struck me as having a “love interest” in the past. Not only that, but I expected her to be the female character I seem to find everywhere these days who strives to be better than everyone else without a lick of experience, complaining about the male figures in her life.

Elita, however, is ambitious. She leads. She doesn’t have to prove anything; she’s simply willing to work hard and do her job. Understandably, she gets upset with Orion Pax and the others when they interrupt her progress, though I can’t help but be amused by Orion Pax’s shy attempt to get her attention and adored his subtle acts of kindness. Sure, she’s a tad bit aggressive – she did punch Orion Pax, after all – but I really enjoyed seeing her adapt. When Orion Pax was feeling hopeless, she was there to encourage him. If she had stopped talking immediately after saying “I’m better” I would have been frustrated. Orion Pax and D-16 are the main characters in Transformers One, after all. She didn’t stop there, though. She highlighted the most important aspects of Orion Pax; his good heart, selflessness, and bravery. She told Shockwave and the others to shut up and listen to Orion Pax when they doubted his plan. She encouraged him to speak louder when others couldn’t hear him. She leaned towards the pit when Orion Pax fell.

Not only that, but Orion Pax was incredibly patient with her. He woke her up when she was unconscious and immediately took a punch to the face like a champ. He gently, subtlety smiled at her when they traveled to the surface and Elita announced "it's beautiful." He cried out her name and pushed her out of the way to save her during a battle. He listened to her. He told her to beat Arachnid “gently” when Elita managed to detain her, proving he fully understood Elita’s personality.

I’m sorry, but this kind of relationship takes the cake. If they’re meant to be a couple, I can see the signs. I love how well they work together and build each other up.

Bee is an icon. One of my favorite scenes is him eagerly saying to Orion Pax “I’m going to go cut these guys up, watch! C’MERE!” It’s like a proud kid trying to get their parent to watch. I love how loyal he is to Orion Pax right off the bat.

While they changed some lore in Transformers One, they included everything that was important. Orion Pax and D-16 are miners, but it seems Orion Pax may have been a clerk beforehand. When he broke into the archives, he seemed to know where he was going. When he ran, I can’t remember exactly, but I believe he was muttering numbers? I don’t mind the small twists and can see how they were necessary for the story; key details are kept.

Jazz and Ratchet mention! I was so excited to hear their names. Kind of wish they had shown Ratchet, maybe shouting “I needed that!” to a fumbling worker. Sorry, Transformers Prime reference.

Arachnid had an incredible design.

Sentinel is a well-written, hate-worthy villain. I… did not expect D-16 to rip him in half, though.

Also… can I just mention how epic that particular scene was? The switch from D-16 reaching his peak character development – showing no mercy – while Orion Pax reached his – making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve life and do things the right way; receiving the Matrix of Leadership. The music, the animation, the slow-motion… everything was incredibly cinematic.

Obviously, D-16 took things too far. I appreciated the fact that he didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be evil. It took time. It took motivation. Obviously, any sane person would stand with Optimus Prime, though he does make mistakes from time to time, but it was incredibly neat to actually appreciate D-16’s insight in the beginning, then notice the shift and feel every bit of emotion Orion Pax felt.

People say the ending is rushed, or that D-16’s change came too abruptly without any good motivation. Sure, the ending may be a little rushed, but movies are typically structured this way. Falling action does not have a set speed; it just needs to be well done. Bad things happen in a rush, and this leaves ample opportunity for the “good guys” to react a little too slowly. As for D-16’s motivation… even a person can take their worship of an item or figure too far. Megatronus was someone to look up to in D-16’s eyes. He agreed to Orion Pax’s plans, or at least tolerated them, but his admiration for Megatronus was his own interest. Orion Pax threatened that vision. D-16 wanted to kill Sentinel to satisfy his own needs and desires, not to liberate others. Sentinel deserved death after committing murder, yes. He didn’t, however, deserve a public execution, especially as he tried to get away and was relatively defenseless. Remember, Sentinel told D-16 and Bee that he would execute them in front of everyone. We can acknowledge his promise as brutal, so shouldn't D-16's actions be considered brutal, too? No "reason" could ever justify it.

When D-16 let Orion Pax drop, he proved he no longer cared about loyalty. The least he could do was hoist Orion Pax’s body up or break down after losing what he once called his best friend, but he didn’t.

It’s ironic… D-16 said “I’m done saving you” when in reality, Orion Pax was trying to save D-16 from doing something he knew D-16 should have regretted doing. Normally, yes, D-16 is the voice of reason, but not in this case. For once, this is where Orion Pax’s true personality shines through. His spark – the spark of a Prime – is in the right place. Orion Pax puts joking aside when serious matters arise. It seems D-16 didn’t really know his friend after all. The actions D-16 committed, my friends, are not actions you want to celebrate.

I really, really hope Transformers One gains more attention. We need the sequel! Transformers fans, tell your friends. Give an honest review, which are of more value than the reviews given by those who didn’t take the time to watch it. Hype it up and roll out!

[youremyheaven]

vedic astrology observations

every revati i personally know has a dysfunctional relationship with either/both parent. there are celebrity examples as well

Angelina Jolie, Ellen DeGeneres, Rihanna, Cardi B (all Revati Moon)

2. two tier naks like uttaraphalguni & purvaphalguni, uttarashada & purvashada, uttarabhadrapada & purvabhadrapada often appear together

Jin is UBP moon & Yoongi is PBP sun

Jisoo is Purvashada Sun & Jennie is Uttarashada Sun

Bella is Purvaphalguni Moon & rising, Anwar is Uttaraphalguni rising

3.i have noticed that many punarvasu natives veer between either extreme in their early life, i.e, either they grow up extremely wealthy & comfortable or they grow up struggling/have difficult childhoods.

many royals have Punarvasu nakshatra (ex: Charlotte Casiraghi) and its generally seen as a wealth giving nakshatra but many famous Punarvasus have had rough childhoods, like drew barrymore, keanu reeves, eartha kitt (all punarvasu moon) and meghan markle (punarvasu rising) ive often noticed that the father being absent/being abandoned by the father is also a common theme in the lives of these natives (literally all the people i just mentioned grew up either without their father or saw him very less).

4. "The Nice Guys"

certain celebrities have a reputation for being "a nice guy"; they're humble, cordial, very grounded and polite. Ardra, Punarvasu & Pushya were the most common nakshatras among them. its not surprising to me that these celebs who have a reputation for being "nice", have naks in the Gemini-Cancer spectrum. im not saying other naks aren't capable of being nice, just that these naks have a tendency to make you known for being nice.

Tom Hanks, Punarvasu Sun, Pushya Moon

Keanu Reeves, Punarvasu Moon & stellium

Adam Sandler, Ardra Moon

Emilia Clarke, Ardra moon

Paul Rudd, Ardra rising

Mark Hamill, Pushya moon

Chris Evans, has Mercury & Venus in Ardra. His luminaries also consist entirely of Deva gana naks (Mrig sun, Swati moon & Anuradha rising)

Chris Hemsworth has Mars in Pushya

ive often been asked why i include placements other than the "big 3" when making observations and i want to say, please dont be misguided by pop-astrology narrative that your sun, moon & rising are "the most important" placements. they represent your ego, mind and appearance but its a very western mindset to say that "importance" is confined only to these aspects of an individual. a person is more than just the sum of their parts. every placement affects you. your mercury is how you communicate and express yourself, does that not sound important to you? mars is how we assert ourselves and conduct ourselves, venus is how we channel beauty, love and abundance. all of these are "important"!!!

6. Serpent Yoni (Rohini & Mrigashira) natives are probably some of the most private people ever. They're extremely protective of their personal space & it's not uncommon for them to stay off of social media entirely. If you consider the fact that snakes live in hidden spaces, away from the reach of most animals/people, it makes sense as to why these natives exhibit similar behaviour

Adele (Venus in Mrigashira)

Enya (Mrigashira Moon), she lives alone in a castle in the middle of nowhere in Ireland 😭😭thats sooo Mrig coded

Sandra Bullock (Mrigashira stellium) she's also been subject to stalking & harassment (a common Mrig theme) her home was invaded in 2014 etc but she's in semi retirement now and says she will never join social media

Jennifer Lawrence (Mrigashira Moon)

her privacy has been invaded brutally but she has always been adamant on protecting it.

Brigitte Bardot (Rohini Moon) she retired in the 70s and has since lived in the French countryside

Cillian Murphy (Rohini Sun) we lit rally know nothing about him

7. ive noticed with bharani men is that they tend to have difficult relationships with their fathers/the father is absent somehow, they're however very fond of their moms and sooo many of them have an older sister??? who they are also very close to???

Robert Downey Jr had a very complicated relationship with his father who encouraged his son to do drugs with him as a child etc

I had already mentioned that Revati natives often come from dysfunctional families, Rob has a Revati sun & stellium and he is Bharani moon. His rising is Ashlesha which is also often seen in natives who come from abusive or controlling homes.

[snakeoilpictures]

The problem with pro-shippers: NSFW child content

Silence is golden but that only pertains to certain cases. The subject of pro-ship vs anti-ship has been a huge manner of debate in fandoms, primarily A03 and A03's subreddit and tumblr community. If you admit to being anti-ship, you're suddenly exiled and considered a pariah to the community and a promoter of cancel culture.

"Let people enjoy things!" "It's not real, it's fictional!" "These characters and actors are our toys to play with" "Disregard all haters, they're the monsters"

Only goes so far in some subjects. There is a fine line drawn when the content involves CSEA that's not told with a negative connotation.

However, pro-shippers do not like being told the difference.

The difference between a negative narrative and a romanticizing narrative. (ie: we as readers and the author know that pedophilia and child pornography is bad. Versus: we as readers and the author enjoy fictional pornography when it involves children and we enjoy writing 10 year olds having sex with other 10 year olds or a 10 year old calling a 40 year old man "daddy" during NSFW acts).

That the characters being fictionalized completely disregards all notions that the author and readers enjoy reading about children in NSFW content. Because it's "fictional".

That if you like watching a cannibal on TV and the fact that you may enjoy a show about a cannibal, it doesn't make you a cannibal because it's fiction. This argument is used on the daily for pro-shippers.

4. Because no children are actually harmed. That may be, but the reader and author are still enjoying content that involves the images of children in NSFW scenarios.

The fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter if the children are fictionalized or not, but no pro-shipper is going to agree because the characters in themselves are considered "toys" they can play with. (Don't get me started on how wrong the term of "toy" sounds in regards to children, fictional or not.)

The true facts here are that the reader and author are still putting a child's face onto a character involved in NSFW content. That's all it is. Picturing a child's prepubescent body parts as a character and finding that attractive enough to write about in an NSFW fashion. Again, pro-ship will disagree and become hostile.

But why is NSFW fictional child pornography morally wrong when writing fictionalized incest pornography is not?

Because the fictionalized incest pornography does not involve actual siblings or family members. One may just like the characters together regardless of blood. It doesn't mean that the author or reader is attracted to their real life sibling or wishes to put two real life siblings together in NSFW scenarios like Liam and Chris Hemsworth and because child pornography is CSEA. A child cannot consent. Even fantasizing about a fictional child in rape scenarios is beyond levels of fucked up.

"But fictionalized incest isn't real so fictionalized child pornography isn't real"

The biggest difference is that the reader and writer aren't finding the real life prospect of incest attractive, but they are finding CSEA content an attractive scenario.

But god forbid you raise your voice against this, and you'll be crucified.

It. Doesn't. Matter. That. They're. Not. Real.

You are still attracted to the images of child characters.

But wait, no actual children were harmed?! "It's just an instrusive thought" "I can safely look at CSEA in a safe environment where I don't hurt anyone" No. Get help. Get therapy. Harm reduction is not thr same when it comes to non consenting minors and when it comes to a user getting off on the idea of children. Get help. There is no lesser evil here. These thoughts are not okay.

Come @ me. I'm not scared. Not as scared as some pro-shippers should be once their search history is discovered. (For the record, I pray you do not have this kind of content on your person. However if you truly believe CSEA is okay if no one is physically harmed by you then by all means, tell your therapist about it)

#end rant

[karioke13]

My Transformers One thoughts!!!

✨Spoiler free✨

Holy moly this movie was just so…WOW!!! Before I start with my thoughts, I would like for y’all to know that I’ve never been this hyped for a movie in a long time! I was so excited I was shaking from excitement that my family kept asking if I was okay! 😂

Ok now to my thoughts. First off, I just want to mention how good the voice acting was. Chris Hemsworth did such a phenomenal job as Orion Pax, later Optimus Prime. Whenever his character gave a speech, I was crying because of how amazing and inspiring it was. And Orion in general was just so adorable and fun to watch! Now Brians voice acting was spine chilling! His decent from good friend who sticks to protocols to becoming the revenge seeking Megatron just flowed ever so nicely! The writers did an incredible job with his villain arc. Plus, Brians voice acting just made it even more incredible! And Michael Keegan as Bumblebee was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! My mom loved him she thought he was so funny! He was kinda, sweet and always willing to help his friends. The chemistry that Optimus and Elita have with each other was *chefs kiss* you can tell she really cared for him throughout the whole movie! Everyone’s chemistry with each other was amazing!!! Every single character had such well done chemistry with the others, showing the good writing in this movie!

Now the music and animation, was OFF THE CHARTS. They both flowed so well together. The music made me feel so teary eyed because of how beautiful was! It made you really feel in the moment. And the animation was absolutely STUNNING! Seriously yall, shoutout to all the animators for doing such an amazing job with the animation style. It was just so incredible. So if you are really into animation and/or music definitely check this movie out!!

And finally the plot in this film. I swear this plot is absolutely heartbreaking in this movie. So many moments that make you feel. The friendship bond between Orion Pax and D-16 to the long known enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron was simply so sad to watch. And it really makes you feel hooked to the story watching D-16 going through his good guy to bad guy transformation. It really makes you feel for the guy. There were also so many dark moments too which was pretty shocking but honestly pretty valid for the story and I like how they didn’t try to shy away from all that. The writers really embraced it, show the horrors and the reality of war, corruption and betrayal. Honestly, I haven’t been this hooked on a plot for a movie in a long long time!

I had so much fun watching this movie. It made me feel like a little kid again, getting excited about a movie and what will happen and why the characters change. Seriously shoutout to everyone person who worked in this movie yall did an amazing job! I’m really considering watching this movie because of how good this movie was. 10/10 movie rating for me. I definitely recommend yall to watch this amazing movie, it has such amazing characters as well as a really good lesson from this movie! I can’t wait for more of this Transformers story! I had a really good time! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

Also I brought my Optimus Prime plushie and my Bumblebee funko pop, along with my new Transformers One shirt to the movies with me! And I also took some pictures during the movie as well! (No spoilers i promise!!) Have a look! 🤗

[crguang]

SUSHSNAJAH i love your kafmom hcs can you elaborate more on them?

YES YESVYESYESYES sure. i can do that.

you can’t look me in the eyes and tell me kafka’s not a boy mom sorry… she has a son and he’s her pride and joy, okay. she thinks he’s smarter than regular babies (“he has my genes, naturally.”) and brags about it to the stellaron hunters who don’t give a shit at all except firefly

“he sat up on his own. at this rate, we’ll have to get him checked out. hold on, i took a video.”

“oh my godddd,” silver wolf groans, “you really became one of those insufferable moms who only talk about their kid. disgusting.”

dad energy, like shes a dad. she’s that meme of chris hemsworth holding his kid by the leg at the beach. she checks the list of ingredients of whatever baby food you give her so she can feed him and goes, “i’m not giving him that.” (“kafka, it’s approved.” “by who?”) she always carries him on her shoulders. when he fusses and she has to hand him over to you for feeding, she says, “he wants you because you have the milk, but he told me i’m his favourite.” (he cant talk?)

kafka’s one of those dads who will spend half an hour having conversations with a baby who only babbles and giggles. if you come into the room and ask her what’s going on, she’ll say it’s “between him and her” and wink at your son like he understands what she’s saying

the baby rarely cries when she’s holding him. it’s sickening. she mentions it all the time. she’s a baby whisperer and you’d complain if that didn’t mean you get to take naps without worrying about shrill cries every half hour

funnily enough, kafka understands the fragility of the human body and even more so of a human baby. she does things like throwing him in the air and catching him to make him laugh, spinning him around, etc (it almost give you a heart attack every time to which she only replies, “relax, i got him.”) but she’s aware of his and her limitations so really, he couldn’t be safer with her

she has “days out” with him when she’ll take him somewhere for a morning or afternoon so you can rest and also to ease your separation anxiety if you have any. you need to be able to be without your baby and not die of worry but it’s hard😞

she’s not one of those crazy possessive boy moms who hate when their sons grow up and end up with “other women”, she just teaches him how to pull (“listen, this is how i got your mom wrapped around my finger…”)

she doesn’t smoke as often. she doesn’t really notice it even though it was a habit, cigarette smoke is dangerous for babies so she stopped. you mention it to her once and she shrugged like it was no big deal but she really loves that baby, dude…

she can be very firm. she’s a fun dad but she won’t tolerate disrespect towards you or him putting his life in danger because of stupid decisions he made. baby or teen, she can put her foot down and it’s very rare for her son not to listen to her when she does (she’s always smiling, imagine when her smile drops… shivers)

she’s weirdly understanding. i say it’s weird because she’s never done this before, but that’s precisely the reason why she kinda just follows your lead. she’s also very perceptive so you don’t often have to verbalize what you need, she’ll have it done. no more diapers? she already noticed and got some yesterday. your period is coming up? you’ve been irritable the past few days so she’s been taking more tasks off your plate. she’s just very astute in general and it helps a lot when it comes to having a kid

that baby can dress i’ll tell you that. she shops with him in the cart and asks him for his opinion on which item fits her best (he only cares about the toy in his hand)

she’s still a bad bitch and she has to remind you of that once in a while…

one of those dads who says no to a pet when their toddler becomes articulate enough to beg for one and ends up being the one to take care of it

she’s an early riser so when your son’s still an infant and wakes up during the night she’s often the first awake. depending if he’s hungry or not, she also takes care of it

if we pretend she’s not a deadbeat mom i swear she’d be a great parent like… she’d never in her life expect it to happen and the baby would definitely be an accident but hey! she steps up…!

[redzrantz]

[TRANSFORMERS ONE SPOILERS!!]

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS MOVIE SO SO SO VERY MUCH!!!

I SERIOUSLY TALK ABOUT WHAT I ANALYZED FROM THE CHANGES WITH OPTIMUS PRIME (Orion Pax) AND MEGATRON (D-16)

Optimus Prime

What I thought was super smart about this was the cast of voice acting. I do honestly believe that Chris Hemsworths voice genuinely does fit the younger version of Orion Pax that we see. I honestly believed that it was a bit weird but seeing the slow transition of his voice becoming more of Optimus prime that we know and love is amazing.

MEGATRON (a bit of a longer rant)

Now from what I remember, I never really saw the full story of why Optimus Prime and Megatron became enemies from previous movies I’ve watched. I only knew they had some sort of bond together back then, but my memory is a bit rusty since it’s been awhile. However from watching this it was super interesting to finally see why Megatron becomes….Megatron. D-16 is shown to be someone that completely followed Sentinel Prime and his beliefs, while Orion Pax was always a rebellious type. When they find out the truth about him of course Orion Pax doesn’t fully react to badly about the betrayal, because he never followed the beliefs from the beginning. Yet Megatron was considered one of the best miner, and completely followed Sentinels beliefs. His “over reaction” felt a bit reasonable and understanding. How can you trust anyone after being lied to your entire life. It opened his eyes in the worse way possible. If he never met Starscream or the others, he would’ve never turned into someone so power hungry proving everyone he is right, he is better than anyone else that leads, because the people who did lead him failed him. He saw himself capable of leading people to the wrong path, but he did not see it as wrong. He saw anyone who saw his ideas flawed as enemies. Which is why I think that D-16 becoming Megatron is so interesting to me. (Sorry if I don’t make sense, I’m very sleepy and it’s 2am)

The relationship change between Megatron and Optimus Prime

It was actually so sad to see how they become enemies. When you watch it, you can see the worry on Orion Pax when D-16 was changing. They promised each other to look out for each other, but when Orion did, all he gets is D-16 pushing him away. That revenge blinded him so much, he couldn’t see how Orion was worried or trying to support and help him. THE ENDING SCENE HURTS SO BAD THOUGH, seeing the flashback of Orion Pax telling D-16 that if he watched his back he’ll watch his, and it literally transitioning to Megatron and his crew leaving with OPTIMUS PRIME STILL WATCHING HIS BACK OR BEING RIGHT BEHIND HIM IS JUST DUSHDJFNDB.

Anyways goodnight 🛌

[hard-core-super-star]

Hey, I have a hailee steinfeld x reader request:

Reader is Chris Hemsworth's cousin (meaning she's aussie.) And she is dating Hailee Steinfeld. (But the relationship is a private relationship.) She plays Spider-Woman in Hawkeye and Kate Bishop's love interest. So, in an interview for ATSV, they talk about Readers Spider-Woman making an appearance in the movie.

karma is the girl on the screen coming straight home to me [H.Steinfeld]

pairing: hailee steinfeld x hemsworth!reader

summary: having to do interviews with your girlfriend comes with its own set of challenges. thankfully, you always have each other's back.

warnings: none, just fluff with a side of plot; abrupt start and even more abrupt ending; light mentions of anxiety

wordcount: 1.5k

a/n: this request spent almost a month in my inbox and i am so sorry for that. i hope you like it despite the long wait!

* * * * * * *

You look up from your phone at the sound of footsteps approaching. There’s no way to hide the smile that spreads across your features once you catch sight of who’s walking toward you.

“Don’t tell me you started missing me already, Steinfeld.”

She rolls her eyes affectionately at the use of her last name, an old habit that still lingers between the two of you sometimes. “You wish, Hemsworth. Just came to tell you we have five minutes before the interview starts. Wouldn’t want you to be late. Again.”

“That’s a low blow. You’re the reason I was late last time.”

“Weird. I don’t remember it like that.”

“Why am I not surprised?” You reply, attempting to sound annoyed and failing miserably.

She takes a quick look around before reaching out for your hands. You welcome the physical affection a little too eagerly for someone who was trying so hard to make fun of her a few seconds ago. If she notices, she doesn’t comment on it, clearly just as starved for contact as you are.

As much as you love being a part of interviews and getting to talk about projects you’re passionate about, you hate how little time you get to spend with Hailee. At least when you did the Hawkeye press junket you got to do almost every single interview with her due to the curiosity and impact of your character’s developing relationship. This time, however, your role has been the supportive girlfriend.

Despite the excitement from the fans about your character making a not-so-secret appearance in Across the Spider-Verse, all the journalists seemed to prefer to steer clear of having both you and Hailee in the same room to avoid being responsible for accidentally outing you. Just because your relationship is of a more private nature doesn’t mean either of you is doing a great job at keeping your obvious feelings in check.

Hence why it was decided you wouldn’t participate in many interviews. The last thing you need is another nepotism scandal.

“You nervous?” She asks, her previous teasing tone disappearing into thin air once she notices how spaced out you seem to be.

You shake your head in response almost as if that will get rid of the worries lingering in the back of your mind. “Me? Of course not, what’s there to be nervous about?”

She laughs, the sound soft and sweet. “Right. Well, since you’re not nervous then I guess you don’t want a kiss for good luck…”

“You’re a cruel woman, Hailee Steinfeld.”

“Just the way you like it,” she replies with a wink.

She starts to walk away but you pull her back toward you before she can get too far. You know you played right into her hand when you catch sight of the growing grin on her face but you’re too happy to care. You wrap your arms around her neck, careful not to mess up her hair, before connecting your lips in a slow kiss.

Her hands land on your waist long enough to pull you flush against her in an intimate embrace. Time seems to slow down to a crawl while you both relish this brief moment of affection.

It ends too fast for your liking and you have to swallow back your complaints, knowing it’s just a matter of time before people from both of your PR teams start looking for you. “We’re not done here. Just so you know.”

“Trust me-” She gives your lips one last peck before she steps away from you. “I know.”

You let her walk away first, taking a moment to thank the universe for bringing this woman into your life before following after her. You quickly arrive at the interview room and go through all the formal introductions before taking your seat next to Hailee. She shoots you a quick smile that you waste no time in returning.

The next few minutes pass by in an exciting blur of people setting up all the microphones and cameras and it’s not until the interviewer sits down in front of you that your previous nervousness rears its head again. You try to tell yourself you’re worrying over nothing but almost every interview has gone the exact same way since you joined the MCU. The only thing that brings you some reassurance is that Across the Spider-Verse is something completely different and can’t be linked to your last name. Unfortunately, that leaves the door right open for a different set of accusations regarding the brunette sitting by your side.

The interview starts in a very standard way with the first few questions being the same opening questions you’ve gotten in every other interview. You don’t really mind but you do wish people could come up with something better than,”How excited are you about this movie?”

Your complaints fade away once you’re forced to focus on the next batch of questions. “So, y/n, this was your first time doing voice acting for a movie, how different was portraying Spider-Woman in this way compared to Hawkeye?”

You give a pretty ordinary answer, waiting until you’ve fully answered the question to add in a comment that you know will be floating around your Twitter feed for most of the week. “And I definitely had to tone down my flirting this time around.”

“Was that hard for you?” The interviewer replies, not so subtly straddling the border between keeping the conversation flowing and pointing out you and Hailee’s closeness.

Your answer comes with its own set of badly hidden romantic undertones. “I mean, have you seen this woman?”

“Way to keep it professional, y/n,” Hailee says, her smile obvious in her tone.

“I just have too much charm to keep contained, darling.”

You turn your head just enough for your eyes to meet hers. A charged moment of silence passes before she looks away, muttering something about how unbelievable you are through a soft chuckle.

You almost forget where you are until the interviewer speaks up again and brings you right back to reality. “The internet certainly agrees with you, y/n. Apparently, you take after your cousin.”

“Which one?” You joke.

You can already tell where the conversation is going to go but you do your best to appear unbothered.

“Oh, you know, tall, blonde, also an Avenger.”

You suppress the urge to roll your eyes but the shift in your posture doesn’t go unnoticed by Hailee. It never does.

“Right, that one. Annoying fella, isn't he?”

It’s easier to mask your annoyance as playful teasing if you direct your energy toward your cousin and not the interviewer in front of you.

“So annoying,” Hailee joins in, making a show of mimicking your accent.

You shoot her a brief but grateful smile. One she returns with the smallest nod of her head, almost as if silently telling you she’s got your back. And you don’t doubt for a second that she does.

Unfortunately for the two of you, your attempt at changing the topic of conversation goes completely ignored by the interviewer. “Still, it must be great to have support from your own family when it comes to projects like this.”

“Yeah, it’s always fun to remind Chris he never got his own show.”

Hailee makes a face at your comment and you can already imagine the “Memefeld” tweets it will create. “Technically the show isn’t yours.”

“It’s not yours either, there’s still two Hawkeyes.”

“I…yeah, okay, you got me there.”

“So, the criticism doesn’t bother you?” He continues. “It’s hard to deny the connection between your recent projects and the closest people in your life.”

This time Hailee’s the one who stiffens up and, despite the way your heart flutters in your chest at her protective nature, you decide to reply before she gets the chance to. “I appreciate people’s concern but I think they’re overestimating the importance of my personal life and greatly underestimating my talent. I’m not really bothered by it, I just ignore it, to be honest. Call it taking a page out of Taylor’s book.”

You turn to look at your girlfriend with a subtle smirk on your lips. She already knows exactly what you mean but she plays along with you anyway. “Which one? Shake it off?”

“I was thinking of Karma but sure,” you say with a shrug. “Except for the ‘guy on the screen’ part.”

Even though you mumble the last part, you know the microphone picked you up loud and clear. If your choice is between nepotism scandals and dating rumors, you’ll take the dating rumors any day. Hailee’s team probably doesn’t agree so it’s a good thing your agent is the one in the room and not Hailee’s.

Almost as if on cue, she steps in with a random excuse to end the interview. You don’t really pay attention to whatever words get exchanged since you’re too busy admiring your girlfriend.

You can already imagine the tweets and the headlines this interview will create but you don’t really mind. All you really care about is getting to go home with Hailee.

[kirax-emd]

My rambling on the transformers one movie (no spoilers)

I truly never write anything on this blog, but really, for this movie, I think it deserves it.

Transformers one movie is so good.

I just wanted to say it really might be the best transformers movie out there. Everything, down to the last minute details. Like. Wow. It's everything (I believe) that a transformer fans ever wanted.

The animation is top tier. The lighting on every surface we see is stunning. The colors pops up a lot and its pleasant to the eyes to see for an hour and a half. The fights are so well choreographed and filmed too.

The voice acting is absolutely perfect. Chris Hemsworth absolutely nailed it. Brian Tyree is an absolute surprise for me how well he did. Scarlett and Keegan-Micheal key were perfect.

The jokes made me laughed multiple, actually no. I've laughed at all the gags. The movie also have a lot of dark read-between-the-line moments. It can be gruesome. It can be violent. But it can be fun too.

The world is beautiful, I want to know more about how their planet works, I want to see more of the life form there. I want... I want more. I got really attached to this world really fast. ROTB did not had that effect on me. But this movie. This movie did. I got attached to every single one of the bots that shows up and I love them all. They all have a really distinct personality and I love them.

After watching this movie, i just- stared at the wall, replaying the whole movie in my head again- I'll probably do it again after writing this. I never do this kind of behavior for anything. But like damn. This movie. I really want to watch it again. Even if it's been like 2 hours since writing this.

I do not know how, or why I feel like this. I'm just contemplating how good it is I guess. I truly hope this movie succeed and get recognition cause this was a really, really fun roller coaster to board. I hope we get more project like this in this community ❤️❤️

[beheworthy]

Jane, listen to me. You must not give up. You must finish what you've started. Why? Because you're right.

Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman's chemistry in Thor4 is unanimously hailed as the best thing about the film. While I absolutely agree with the consensus, for me, it started here with this scene 11 years ago.

This is the big romantic scene where the couple falls in love as they connect with each other. For example, Tony and Pep's dance in IronMan1: Pep is in a backless gown which she makes a point to mention and they almost kiss. Diana and Steve dance in the snow in Wonder Woman: they are also dancing close to each other, she even says so and it directly leads to them sleeping together. Arthur and Mera roam about in Italy in Aquaman: he catches her fall and they almost kiss as well.

These are all scenes I love from movies I love. I'm just using them as a reference to point out what director Kenneth Branagh does differently here. This scene is where his brilliance shines. He gives us romance without anything sexual or even sensual. It's just heartfelt sincere emotion between the two characters that elevates it to something more than just attraction.

It begins with Jane talking about the significance of the place she's brought Thor to, Thor thanking her for helping him, and her making a joke about hitting him twice in their aggressive meet cute, which he so graciously takes (post-Ragnarok Thor would never). He then gives her her notebook so she can continue her research. It's a humbling moment for the cocky Crown Prince as he'd so casually promised to bring everything back but all he could really bring was a notebook.

This is more than anyone has done for her because no one even believes in her research, let alone help her continue it. She understandably gets upset about having to start over with no support + with a hostile organization on her back now. And then comes the most important bit, he encourages her to keep going BECAUSE she is right. Not a cheesy 'I believe in you' or a fake deep 'believe in yourself' or even a superficial 'don't give up'. But keep going because you are right. Plain and simple. It gets through to her because it's straightforward and honest.

He then elaborates on it by explaining to her about the cosmos which directly furthers her research. He actively helps her research and supports her in the true sense, something she really needed and rarely got. And that becomes the foundation of their connection. The lighting is perfect, the ambiance is perfect. The actors do an admirable job. They don't touch at all, mind you. They're sitting with some distance between them. They don't even look into each other's eyes. Nothing romantic is said or done here. Yet, it’s romantic.

This scene is quite literally the reward of Thor’s hero’s journey: her. He learns kindness, sincerity, and humility from her and tries to emulate it going forward. She is his reward.

We get the emotional scene later when he dies for this town of 30 people. We get the big damn kiss. He literally gets her her research back. We get everything. Later. This scene was solely about the connection that sets the base for their relationship. It's the why of their love story. Both Thor and Jane are instrumental in each other's growth and make each other better people. She made him worthy and he made her believe in herself. I love the idea that love should be something that empowers and inspires you.

+

[carcharhinus-cinematus]

Transformers One Review!

Spoilers Ahead!

I would like to preface this review with the fact that I wasn't really a Transformers fan before seeing this movie. I didn't know much about the Transformers franchise itself, this review will reflect that. Transformers One was an amazing movie, there was a lot that I loved about it.

Starting off with the performances. I loved most of the voice acting. Chris Hemsworth's performance was lackluster at times. There were times where I just wasn't feeling it as much as the other. I do think he is a good choice for Optimus Prime, just some of his performance as Orion Pax didn't translate for me.

On the other hand, I have no complaints about Brian Tyree Henry. I don't think I could find something to complain about if I tried. He is truly incredible in this movie. Almost every line of dialog of his in the second half of the movie send a shiver down my spine. I think it was super clear to see his gradual change from D-16 to Megatron, and while the writing plays a good part of that, Henry should not go without praise. It was easy to understand how D-16 was feeling and why he did what he does, even when you can't cheer for him. Brian Tyree Henry is truly and amazing actor, both on screen and in the booth. Scarlett Johansson also gave a great performance, I really enjoyed her as Elita-1.

The animation in this movie really stood out to me. It was beautiful and incredible well done. Some moments really stuck out to me, like the scene of D-16 walking across the surface that we see through the reflection of a hunk of metal and the shot of D-16 sleeping in his pod the night before the Iacon 5000. Both looked so good and stuck with me from my first watch. I also really love the physics in this movie and I loved seeing the way that the autobots interacted with each other and how their bodies react to it, especially the first fist bump between Orion and D-16.

I think the story was great. On the surface, it was easy to follow the relationship between Orion and D-16. As well as the fracturing of their friendship that come along with D's transformation to Megatron. D-16's shift didn't feel forced or like a complete 180 of the character that we have grown to know, it was natural and the roots of his personality were shown from the beginning. Orion was always Optimus. Under the surface, the story of the corruption and facade of the government is not hard to see. Due to Sentinel Prime's own actions, he must face the music. In doing so he strips countless autobot's of their basic autonomy, forcing them to work and work for something they can not reap the benefits of. He takes their finite resources out of their hands and puts it directly into the hands of the enemy. When his betrayal is discovered there seems to be two reactions, replace the figureheads and fix the current system or destroy it (and it's leader) and start anew.

The scene near the end of the movie where Orion becomes Optimus due to Primus' personal blessing and D-16 becomes Megatron as he tears Sentinel in half and takes his cog out of his chest is and incredibly tense and incredibly beautiful scene. The music is incredible, it is throughout the entire movie, but especially this scene. Brian Tyree Henry's acting truly hits a peak in this scene.

The design of the autobots was also really really good. I love Airachnid's design. I love her eyes and how they move, as well as the fact that she has a million eyes in the back of her head, but the second she uses them she can't see what's right in front of her. I know it's a simple detail, but I love it. I also really enjoy Alpha Trion's design, as well as the rest of the prime's when they are sitting in the cave, slowly being taken over by the nature and plants of the surface, something so different then what they are. I also want to give a shoutout to the foley work in this movie, it is an art I feel goes under appreciated and there wasn't a moment where i thought the effect didn't fit. I feel like I should mention Bumblebee. I know that he is the gateway to finding the graveyard of the primes, but he feels like nothing more then comedic relief at points, which is a character trope I do enjoy, I just didn't see much development in his character, though I'm sure that'll come if (hopefully when) the movie gets a sequel.

All this to say, I think this movie is incredible and that more people should see it. It is truly beautiful and well acted and I hope that everyone who worked on this film gets the praise they truly deserve.

[the-desolated-quill]

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - Review

Not going to lie, I didn’t go into this film with high expectations. I loved Mad Max: Fury Road, and Charlize Theron’s Furiosa was a big reason for that. So the idea of doing a Furiosa prequel without the woman who helped make the character so iconic in the first place in my opinion seemed destined to fail, even with director and Mad Max creator George Miller still at the helm. Not to mention prequels are notoriously difficult to get right because you’re already at a disadvantage thanks to the audience’s prior knowledge of what’s to come. It’s hard to get people to care about your film when they already know how it will end.

Never have I been so disappointed to be right.

Anya Taylor-Joy is no Charlize Theron. Her shoes would be difficult to fill for even the most accomplished actress, and Taylor-Joy barely touches the sides. I don’t exactly rate her highly as a performer because in the few films I’ve seen her in she only ever seems to have one facial expression; vacant bewilderedness. But in her defence, she really has almost zero material to work with. It’s amazing really. Mad Max: Fury Road was able to tell a compelling story with very little exposition or dialogue. Furiosa, on the other hand, has tons of exposition and dialogue and yet has no story. To summarise the plot would be a fool’s errand because there really isn’t a plot to summarise. There’s some warlord played by Chris Hemsworth, wearing a very unconvincing prosthetic nose, who wants to take over Immortan Joe’s territory, except we know he won’t succeed and his reasons for why are vague and uninteresting. Furiosa gets passed from warlord to warlord like an unwanted sweater, and then she remembers that her mother was killed by these psychos and she should probably avenge her I guess. Meanwhile Immortan Joe (in name only because the original actor died and this new guy they’ve got cosplaying as him has all the stage presence of an irritable floor manager at your local supermarket) is busy discussing politics with his son Rictus, the People Eater, the Bullet Farmer and that guy from the Mad Max video game everyone has forgotten about. And good God do these guys love to talk. They talk and talk and talk some more, and then Chris Hemsworth arrives and starts talking and talking, and then some guy covered in tattoos starts talking and talking. There’s so much talking in this movie and yet, strangely, nobody is actually saying anything.

This film is an excellent example of the difference between story and lore. Furiosa has loads of lore. Loads of lore. But the story is practically non-existent and the information they provide is neither valuable nor necessary. This film is essentially a theatrical reenactment of the Mad Max wiki. No stone is left unturned. Ever wondered how the Organic Mechanic came to work for Immortan Joe? No? Well we’re going to tell you anyway. Do you want to know how the People Eater came to be in charge of Gas Town? Tough shit if you don’t because we’re going to lay it all out for you in laborious detail. Were you curious as to how the War Rig was built? I hope you were. Because we’re going to dedicate a significant section of the film detailing how it was built and them test running the fucking thing before having to fight a bunch of nameless goons in quite possibly the most boring action scene ever put to film. (This was the cardinal sin for me. I was so bored I actually fell asleep. The only time I’ve ever fallen asleep in a cinema was during that twenty minute underwater sequence in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Dozing off during James Cameron’s CGI circlejerk is one thing. Dozing off during a Mad Max film should be impossible).

It’s hard to believe this was made by the same person behind Fury Road. Back then George Miller seemed to understand that there was no point in bogging the narrative down in pointless exposition or needless backstories. What mattered was the characters, the relationships, the here and now. Remember the scene when Furiosa discovered her home was destroyed long ago and she takes her mechanical arm off, falls to her knees and screams her head off. All that pain and anguish and sorrow and regret all perfectly conveyed without a single line of dialogue. What can a prequel possibly add to this scene? Does knowing that Furiosa’s mother was beaten and burned alive in front of her when she was a little girl make that scene any more powerful? Of course not. It’s just an unnecessary detail that I didn’t need nor do I really care about. She lost her mother. Okay. So? I had already assumed that from watching Fury Road. I didn’t need her life story explained to me in a PowerPoint presentation. I suppose the only thing I was vaguely interested in was how Furiosa lost her arm, and even that is anticlimactic. She basically loses it by accident in a car chase. Now some of you may be getting annoyed that I’m giving away ‘spoilers’, but the truth is there’s nothing really to spoil. There’s no plot. Only lore. Specifically lore nobody really asked for in the first place. They don’t even bother fleshing out Furiosa’s relationship with the Wives. How’s that for irony? Fury Road was deservedly praised for its feminist themes and giving its female characters agency. Meanwhile the prequel has its male characters spouting literal pages of dialogue while the women, including Furiosa, get almost zero development and barely get a line in edgeways. Oops.

Furiosa astounds me. It astounds me that it’s made by the same man who made Fury Road. It astounds me that after nine years of struggling to get this film off the ground that this is the best George Miller can come up with. It astounds me that this cost $168 million to make when it would be much cheaper, quicker and less painful for the audience to just smack them in the face with a copy of the Mad Max Encyclopedia and be done with it. It astounds me that this boring slog of a film is actually getting positive reviews when this is a textbook example of how NOT to do a prequel. I’m just astounded. Apparently this film is bombing at the box office. Good. That may sound harsh, but it’s true. This is one of the most mind numbing, dull, pointless films I’ve ever had the displeasure of sitting through, and I’m never going to get those 150 hours back.

Sorry, did I say hours? It sure felt like hours.