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mistresscitrusslice · 15 days ago

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The Season 2 Opening. We Must Discuss.

First of all, small beans. Instead of static, lifeless statues, this time we get moving humans. Mel features significantly more than I expected, so she'll probably be a much more major character than I expected for a non-champion character and I'm so happy for her. I believe the use of moving people instead of statues signifies that immense change will be happening. What we thought was literally set in stone in Season 1 will be turned on its head in Season 2.

Okay, on to the really concerning matters.

Yuhuh. Jinx moves too fast for me to get a good screenshot, but she gestures like this around her face a lot. I think we all already know about the Caitlyn-Jinx parallels, but my sister suggests it could be a red herring for the actual resemblances she has to Silco.

Sis gets credit for the following observation, but Caitlyn's daydream sequences about shooting Jinx are controlled and clearly separated from reality unlike Jinx's.

However, sis has not seen ep 2 yet, where Caitlyn does have that moment in the arcade where she shoots her vision of Jinx among the wooden dummies. Not only does this more closely resemble Jinx's hallucinations, it also parallels Jinx shooting the harmless crow in s1 e5. By the time the strike squad are about to leave, she can clearly tell that what she thought might be Jinx was really just a harmless wooden standee. Startling, but harmless. She shoots it anyway.

Caitlyn is totally gonna spiral more, and maybe she'll start losing her grip on reality too, but for now, she has more in common with Silco than she does with Jinx. Did anyone else get reminded of Silco's coat when Ambessa put the supervillain cape on Caitlyn? The collars don't look similar but they still eerily resemble each other, you get me?

Ok back to intro stuff

Vi wipes off her name from her face. That's two tattoos that are rendered impermanent in this opening theme. In the Fenty x Arcane video, they mention that Mel's golden freckles are tattoos. Later in the intro song, we also see her golden freckles gone. Change, impermanence. That seems to be a theme here.

Vi is literally erasing her name from her face. In any normal circumstance, I'd say that means she wants a change of identity, a desire to start over. However, I know that Vi's League lore involves amnesia. Does she really drink herself into that bad of a stupor? Jkjk. I assumed that her amnesia was replaced by the Stillwater imprisonment to explain how she got topside and with the enforcers, but perhaps I was wrong. Maybe they do still intend to go the amnesia or partial amnesia route with her.

The teasers implied that Vi shares the genetic trait that has Jinx predisposed to hallucinations. It's possible that this eventually contributes to her loss of memory, but I wouldn't call it quite yet. However, if this happens during her emo era when I'm assuming she has no support system, she'll be very vulnerable, unlike if it were to happen while she was still partnered with Caitlyn, in which case they could easily fill in most blanks in her memory.

I have no idea what to make of this. It's clear as day what they're paralleling, but why? Why the flashlight scene? My best guess is that they're trying to draw on déjà vu, implying a repetition of history, but why this particular moment? They could've easily chosen anything else in Jayce's s1 arc. He has many more memorable moments than this. Let's see, I'm literally making this up as I go.

This meeting was a pivotal moment for Jayce. Both his meeting with Viktor and his meeting with Mel changed his fate. The Viktor one is pretty self-explanatory, but without meeting Mel, they would've both just gotten exiled or locked up again. With Mel, they had someone in power who could vouch for them.

That begs the question, is Jayce meeting someone new? Or is this a reintroduction to someone he's already known before, a new meeting after a long time apart or after a significant change, maybe a change in them both. I believe it must be someone who was involved in the original hallway scene.

Jayce is either looking at Mel again or at Viktor. Given the amount of Viktor/Mel parallels in Season 1, I believe Jayce is looking at Viktor after he's undergone his likely final evolution. That'll obviously be another pivotal moment for him... but will it be a good one like it was with Mel? Viktor has power now. He's performing miracles. He's, like, two steps away from parting the Pilt River like it's the Red Sea. He seems to hold a grudge against Jayce, though, for *checks notes* saving his life? Jk I know he feels like he's losing autonomy and like Jayce didn't respect his wishes with the Hexcore and Jayce obviously couldn't let Viktor die when he'd fought so hard to stay alive before.

Anyway, I feel like this could easily be both a good omen and a bad omen for Jayce. More than anything, I feel like it'll be an epiphany. He is quite literally seeing the light. The light at the end of the dark tunnel? The light of the heavens at the end of his life? The light of a revelation sent by a god he once knew as a man?

Seeing Mel screaming bloody murder during the opening, this was the first place my mind went to. The pose doesn't match up exactly, and Jinx/Powder's screams are definitely wilder, but I feel like there's definitely something here. Is there anyone else who screams like this, thrusting their head forward and keeping their arms back?

We also see the shadow hands from this earlier shot:

I'm thinking of the Black Rose (is that their name?) kidnapping her in thin air, incorporeal hands reaching at her and snatching my joy the love of my life Mel away. It could also represent people grasping at the power Mel wields, both as the wealthiest Council member and as a Noxian princess, one of the closest people to Ambessa, the one wielding the most power right now.

Mel is really out of her depth right now. Her power and influence is up for grabs if she dares to blink and let her guard down. I'm also surprised that we don't see her fight back at all when there's danger around. I thought she might have more battle experience as she was raised by Ambessa. For those people wondering about her magical powers, I think she would've used them by now if she had them. Council attack aside, which could've been Viktor's magic, she wasn't able to do anything about the memorial attack or her own kidnapping. I think they're trying to show us that Mel is not as untouchable as she presents herself. Under the right circumstances, she's just as vulnerable as any civilian.

The sliver of light? My sister pointed out that it looks just like the crack of light between two double doors. Almost closed... or barely open? It appears in pretty much everyone's shot in the opening, but it's right down the center of Mel's face here. Is she torn between two sides? Is this about an impossible choice she has to make?

The spotlight is also on her. That's two sources of light. It looks like a red sun. All eyes on her as the surviving voice of the Council?

And her expression... shock, fear, horror. The heavy breathing, the look on her face... I feel eerily like I've seen it on someone else before. I can't place who, but I'm getting déjà vu from this. Does anyone else recognize this expression and these mannerisms?

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ssa-atlas-alvez · 2 years ago

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okay but. imagine cowboy!reader is actually very educated. pro-LGBTQ, pro-choice, BLM, acab. very big speaker and doesn't take shit. BUT everyone thinks he isn't gonna educated and such until they're on a case dealing with like a trans kid and he's the first one to step up and comfort the kid and such. man im in the rabbit hole.

Allergies (Not Really)

No no no no no but the way I've started one where something of this theme happens (I don't want to give too much away aha)

Word count: 3.6k

Warnings: transphobia, sad reader :( (i teared up a little ngl - it's not sad, he's just sad), guns, bullet wound, fighting, briefly mentions some murders to set the scene a bit, someone calls reader a redneck

Also I just want to say that the relationship between Mia and (Y/N) is completely platonic, maybe familial (a bit older brother-y or fatherly) not anything else. Just because I'm panicking because they spend a lot of time joking about and I wanna make that clear.

Taglist: @xweirdo101x @xdark-acadamiax

Your blood boils when you hear the case, an unsub has been targeting young families (parents and three kids all under the age of sixteen). The last family had a survivor, a twelve-year-old transgender girl named Mia, who was currently in the hospital being treated for a variety of injuries.

Your jaw clenches as you read the hospital report, whilst it wasn't too long (thankfully), you knew she would still have a lot to work through mentally.

"You alright over there, Eastwood?" Morgan asks.

"Just angers me, is all," You answer, not feeling the need to elaborate, feeling the source of your anger being fairly self-explanatory. You miss the concerned look Rossi and Hotch share.

A few hours later, the jet landed, once everyone was situated at the police station, you turned to the team.

"I'm gonna head to the hospital, make sure Mia's okay," You said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rossi’s the one that says it, but you can see everyone's thinking the same thing.

"Wha- Why wouldn't it be?... Oh I see," You say as the penny finally drops and it clicks, "Y'all think 'cause I'm from the South I'm against her bein' herself?" You sigh softly, rubbing the back of your neck, "Have I not proved myself yet?"

No one says anything for a moment, shocked by the hurt that flashes in your eyes, before they can, you pick your hat back up, settling it on your head, "I'm headin' to the hospital,” You mumble, leaving the room before anyone can say anything.

When you leave the room, you rub your eyes with the back of your hand. 'Not crying,' You try and convince yourself, 'allergies.' You trying to ignore the fact you know, 100%, that you don't have any allergies.

You get into one of the SUV's and begin making your way to the hospital, ignoring your phone as it lit up with various concerned messages.

The receptionist was a nice woman and was quick to show you to Mia's room (after staring at you hungrily for a few minutes). You gave a small knock before walking in.

"Are you here to tell me I'm too young to know myself as well?"

You furrow your eyebrows, "No, who told you that?"

"One of the nurses," She answers with a shrug.

"You know which one?"

"The guy with brown hair," She shrugs as she answers, "It's fine though, happens all the time."

"I personally don't think y'all are too young to realise who you are," You said with a shrug, "I think anyone who thinks that is trynna hide their bias by invalidatin' your identity."

Mia looks at you for a moment, "I like you." She states, "I thought you were going to be against it."

"I've been gettin' that a lot today, it would seem," You mumble before your head snaps to the door, relaxing when it's just JJ. "Anyway, I'm (Y/N), this is my colleague, Agent Jareau. Mia, you a'right if we ask you a few questions?"

"Sure,"

"Could you run us through what happened that night?"

"Mum and dad were cooking. We were all sitting at the table doing our homework, and someone knocked on the door." Mia began, "They asked me to open the door, and he grabbed me and put a gun to my head. He shot my dad, then-"

You gave her a small, encouraging smile, "You're doin' great,"

"Did you get a look at the person that did this?" JJ asked, when Mia nodded, she continued, "What did they look like?"

Your eyes widen in worry as the heart machine next to Mia picks up, as does her breathing. You pull yourself together and turn your attention to her, "Mia? Mia, hey," Your voice is soft as you kneel next to her, "You need to take some deep breaths for me sweetheart,"

"Can't-"

You nod at her, "Yes, yes you can," You encourage, "Deep breaths, in, one, two, three, four, five, and out. That was good, keep going,"

It takes a moment, but her breathing evens out and she appeared to be less anxious, "There we go," You grin, "Told ya,"

"Okay, Texas," Your jaw drops slightly, the joke catching you off guard.

"That's not fair, I can't even say anythin' back without bullin' a child,"

"Ha ha." She responds, you throw your hands up in the air, smiling when she laughs at you.

JJ rolls her eyes slightly at you with a small smile as the doctor walks in with a few nurses for a routine checkup. Your eyebrows furrow when you see a male nurse with brown hair. Your eyes flick to the name badge, 'Darren', assuming this is the same nurse, you make a mental note of his name.

"We'll be just outside, a'right?"

Her hand shoots out, clinging onto your sleeve, "No! Don't leave!" She looks at you slightly hesitantly, "Please?"

"Hey, hey, it's a'right, I'll stay here," You answer, eyes flicking down to her for a moment before turning to JJ.

"Hotch wants me to go with Morgan to the scene," JJ said, "You good here? I'll let him know,"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good here and thanks," You give a small smile.

When the doctor and nurses left, you turned to Mia, "That nurse you mentioned earlier? The brown-haired one? Was he in the room just now?"

Mia nodded, "Yeah,"

"Had a name badge on, name Darren?" Mia nodded once more. "Alright, I'll be back in a moment,"

"Where are you going?"

"I just want a quick word with this Darren fella," You shrug, seeing the look on Mia's face you roll your eyes slightly, "Don't you worry your little head about it, I'm not gonna hurt him or anythin'."

"Okay..." She said.

"Is that a'right?"

Mia shrugged, "Sure." You nodded before exiting the room.

Furrowing your eyes when you came face to face with Rossi, "Howdy, I'm just popping out for a few," You said.

Rossi nodded, walking into the room after you had left. "I'm Agent Rossi," He said, "I work with (Y/N),"

"The cowboy?"

"Yeah, the cowboy," Rossi huffs a small laugh as he sits in his seat. "Have the staff here been treating you okay?"

Mia shrugs, "Yeah," She answers, "There was one nurse but I think Texas has gone to sort him out or something. He might beat him up."

Rossi smiles slightly, "Texas?"

"Yeah, the cowboy," She said, "I think he's frustrated that everyone keeps assuming he's going to be against me being trans... I'd be frustrated too, I think," She added after a moment's thought.

You leave Mia, now feeling slightly better that Rossi will be there whilst you're gone. Spotting your target, you speed up.

"Excuse me! Nurse?" The man turns towards you, Darren. "I just wanted to have a word with you about Mia?"

You watch as Darren shifts uncomfortably. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to say that perhaps telling someone they're too young to understand 'emselves probably doesn't make 'em feel a whole lotta good about 'emselves."

Darren looks you up and down slightly as he takes a few steps towards you. "And what exactly do you know?" He scoffs, "I'm surprised a redneck such as yourself can read and write."

"That's some nice deflection there," You said sarcastically, trying not to let it show how much the stereotypes flung into your face hurt. "Just... don't be a dick. If you don't understand somethin', look it up. I'm sure you can read. So perhaps do your research before you project onto a twelve year old girl." With that, you give a forced smile before turning on your heels and head back to Mia's room.

"Welp, that outta have done it," You give a lopsided grin, "A'right Rossi?"

"I'm fine Kid, you okay?"

"Yes sir," You answered, "I might grab myself a drink, y'all want anything?"

Mia laughs, "Y'all?"

"Rossi, Imma need your assistance, I'm getting bullied by a twelve year old,"

"Sorry, Kiddo, can't help you there." He chuckled, "I will ask that you grab me a coffee though."

"Coming right up!"

Hours later, she's sat up on the bed whilst you're sat on a chair (a rather uncomfortable one) next to the bed, Rossi having left an hour ago, both of your gazes focused on a small, empty glass bottle that stood on the overbed tables. Each armed with a small piece of string as a makeshift lasso.

"You're not a very good cowboy, are you?" Mia observes as you miss once more.

"Hey, I haven't done this in a while,"

"How longs a while? Never?" She asked, throwing the lasso perfectly once more.

"I'll have you know its been, okay so it's been like ten years, a'right? You were two last time I had to lasso something,"

"Wow, you're old."

"I had no idea twelve year olds were so mean, you're about to make a grown man cry,"

Mia gave a laugh, you quickly joining in. You flung the lasso half-heartedly, eyes widening as it hit its target perfectly. "Yeehaw!"

"Yeehaw? Seriously? You're so lame." You jaw dropped once more. You both jumped as gunshots echoed throughout the hospital, you sat up straight, immediately turning to Mia.

"Mia, I need you to take this," You handed your phone over to her, "The pass code is 1999, okay? You need to phone Hotch. Lock the door behind me, go into the bathroom and lock that door too, okay?"

Mia looked up at you with wide, scared eyes, "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I'm gonna be absolutely fine, a'right?" When she nodded, you gave her a smile, "Don't open this door until I tell you to, or Hotch phones and says to okay?"

You shut the door, not moving until you heard it lock in place. When you heard the soft click, you nodded to yourself as you began to make your way towards sound.

Seeing a nurse, you jogged up to her, "Ma'am, try and get everyone into their rooms, tell them not to come out, okay?" The nurse nods and runs off. You continue cautiously towards the sound of gunshots, revolver clutched in your hands.

When you find him, he's holding a person close to his chest, what with that and the people running past you, you don't have a clear shot. You meeting eyes with the wide yes of the hostage against his chest, you look at her, giving a small nod as you inch closer.

When the moment's right, she ducks her head, pulls her elbow back, before slamming it into the guy's ribs. As he curls over, she wiggles out of her grasp, joining the others in fleeing. With a sigh, you brace yourself before charging at the man, tackling him to the floor.

It takes a moment for the unsub to recover, in that time you've delivered a few blows to his face, both of your guns falling during the tackle. He's quick to flip you over, he aims for the torso first, delivering a handful of well-aimed punches. Next, he takes a fist of your hair, slamming your head into the floor. Once, twice, three times before you get the momentum needed to push him off you.

You staggered up, paying no mind to the pain in your head throbbing in beat with your pulse, the blood on the side of you head that's slowly dripping into your eye, or the ache that's spread through your abdomen. You had to either distract this guy until the team got here or knock him out. Either way, you weren't about to let yourself pass out and let this bastard hurt Mia.

As you're breathing deeply through the pain, the unsub has stood, he (however) is not as chivalrous, so he takes the moment make his way over to you. He grabs your shoulders as he pulls his knee to your groin, pushing you to the floor as you double over in pain. Happy with having the advantage, he continues to aim cheap blows to your sides.

Despite this, you stumble up once more, you keeping your left arm wrapped close to your ribs on your right. They were definitely bruised as a minimum. You duck the punch sent your way, wincing slightly as it pulls on your arm and ribs. Both of your eyes lock on the gun at the same time as the pair of you dive for it. He reaches it first, gripping it tightly in his hands as you immediately go for it, to loosen his grip, anything you can think of.

There's a bang and you grunt as a bullet enters the top of your left arm, adding insult to injury. Okay, so disarming him didn't really work.

"FBI!" You sigh in relief as the unsub is pulled away from you, letting your head fall against the cold floor with your eyes closed - trying to get a grip on the pain. You listen as they cuff the bastard before dragging him out of the hospital. You let your eyes flutter open as you begin to push yourself off of the floor.

"I'm fine," You mumbled, shrugging Hotch's hands off you, "I'm fine, check on Mia."

"Morgan, stay with (Y/N)."

When Hotch is gone, you turn to Morgan, "I'm fine, go help Hotch."

"Sorry, got my order," Morgan said with a shrug. You don't answer, as much as you don't want to admit it, the pain was really starting you affect your headspace. You felt like you couldn't think. "Come on, let's get you checked out."

You shook your head, "No, I need to check on Mia first," You mumbled, giving a low groan as you pushed yourself up.

"Alright, lead the way," Morgan said. You don't answer, simply forcing one foot in front of the other until you're back at Mia's room.

"Is he okay?!" You hear Mia's question through the door.

"He's okay," You hear Hotch reassuring her.

"Then where is he?! He said he'd be here as soon as he could!" Mia's panic causes your eyebrows to furrow, "Oh god, he's dead, isn't he?"

You push the door open, trying to look as put together as possible for Mia, not wanting her to panic. "I'm very much alive, thank you very much," You say.

"I thought he killed you!" She exclaims, rushing towards you. You groan when Mia flings her arms around you, burying her head in your chest and she immediately steps back, seeing the blood her eyes widen. "Holy shit he shot you?!"

"Hey, language,"

"Sorry Texas," She grins, and you roll your eyes.

"Texas?" Morgan grins, "Oh, that is so sticking around,"

You groan slightly, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

You turn to Mia, "Thanks kid," You say sarcastically.

"No problem, old man." Your jaw drops once more.

"I don't know if my ego can take all these insults,"

"I don't know what y'all are talkin' about I would never do such a thing to y'all," She says, trying her best to do an impersonation, giggling slightly at the look of disbelief on your face.

"That- Now that was just a bridge too far-" You barely get the sentence out before you're huffing a laugh (and then wincing because of said laugh).

"Alright, come on, Texas," Derek smirks, placing a hand on your shoulder, "Let's go get you checked out."

You weren’t too injured (thankfully), minus the bullet wound, it was mostly just bruises. Eventually, you were all stitched up and laid in a hospital bed - which you hated, but Hotch had glared at you when you went to protest.

A soft knock echoed through the door before it opened, a blonde woman poking her head round. You frowned slightly, not recognising her.

"Hi, I'm Mia's aunt," The woman says and you straighten up (ignoring the discomfort).

"Ma'am," You said with a nod.

"I just wanted to say thank you,"

"What for?" You furrowed your eyebrows as she raised hers, motioning to your current state. "Ma'am I was just doing my job."

"Well, either way, thank you."

You give a small smile, "No worries, Ma'am."

“I’m going to be her guardian now that-” Mia’s aunt paused, taking a deep breath to compose herself before she continued, “After everything and I really appreciate what you did for her.”

You give her a small smile, “Of course, Ma’am.”

She gives you one last smile as she leaves the room, “Oh, agent?” You look at her, “Is it alright if I bring Mia in? We’re about to head off and she wanted to say goodbye.”

You nod, “Yeah, yeah, of course,”

When the door closes, you push yourself the best you can, the door opens a few minutes later and Mia walks in.

“How y’all healin’?”

“First, I wouldn’t say y’all if it’s just one person,” You said, rolling your eyes, “Second, I’m doin’ a’right,”

“You missed like seven letters in that sentence,” She laughs, you huff a small laugh, forcing a wince down.

“It’s an art form,” You reply. "Your aunt seems nice,"

“She is, I’m going to live with her,” Mia says, smiling, “She lives in California. I can’t wait, apparently my uncle’s been getting a room ready for me,”

“That’s great,” You smiled. "How are you feeling in yourself?"

"I'm okay," Mia said with a shrug, "I know it's going to be a while until I'm back to one hundred percent, but I'm willing to put in the work."

"Smart kid," You said, "You'll be okay."

"Oh, Aunty Meg you should have been there earlier! Texas was all like 'how are y'all doin'?' And he made lassos but he was absolutely useless with one and the last time he used one was when I was two and…"

Mia's voice faded as you looked at the hat on the table for a moment, lightly taking it in your own hands, brushing over the material lightly with the pad of your thumb. It was one of your favourite hats. You looked up, seeing the grin on Mia's face as she did her best cowboy impressions, you smiled. "Hey, I think you'll find, every southerner - impersonator or not - needs their very own hat," You said, reaching over to place it on her head. "Perfect, a true southerner!"

"Well I'll be damned!" Mia exclaimed, tilting the hat slightly.

"Come on, we need to make a move," Mia's aunt said. "I think Uncle Jack's getting restless waiting for us,"

Mia nodded, reaching up and taking the hat off before handing it over to you. You shook your head.

"Nah, you keep it kiddo, I've got hundreds." You give her a smile.

Mia walked forward, clinging onto you as she buried her head in your chest, you ignored the dull ache that flared up in your chest as you hugged her back, "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too, kiddo," You say, lifting one hand to wipe at your eyes.

"Are you crying?" Mia asked softly.

"No." You answered, "I've got allergies."

You wait for Mia to let go before you do, you gave her a small smile, "See you later, a'right?" She nodded, quickly wiping her eyes.

"See you later Texas,"

The door shut quietly behind the two of them and you were enveloped once more in silence.

Whilst everyone was wrapping up the case, you were sitting in a hospital bed, bored out of your skull. With a sigh, you pushed yourself up, sneaking past the nurses and doctors as you made your way outside, wanting some fresh air.

You sat yourself down opposite the hospital in the grass, letting yourself pluck a blade of grass from the ground, running it through your fingers as you lost yourself in your thoughts.

You kept your eyes trained on the grass as Hotch sat down next to you. The pair of you sitting in silence for a moment. “Are you alright?”

“‘M fine, sir,” The answer rolls off your tongue. “Nothing to worry about,”

“If you want to get something off your chest, you can always talk to me,”

“I know, Hotch,” You said, “I just… struggle with the whole talkin’ about how you’re feelin’,”

Hotch nods in understanding, for someone who doesn’t talk about it, you sure do end up giving a lot away. You both sit in silence.

"I know people think I'm stupid," You mumble, staring intently at the blade of grass between your fingers as you spoke, "I know I have that Southern drawl," You exaggerate your accent slightly before continuing, "That I don't exactly talk like y'all. I know some just see me as some redneck, but I can hold my own. I ain't stupid. And I certainly ain't no bigot."

"I know, we all know that." Hotch replies.

"But you didn't." You pointed out before sighing, "Whatever, it doesn't matter..."

"We were concerned because there was no way could have known."

"You could've just trusted me," You said, “I have, in no way, given any of y’all a reason to believe that I am against anyone in that community. And I get it, I do, it just… stings, is all.”

Hotch doesn’t speak, unsure of what to actually say. Because he did jump to conclusions, they all did.

"I think if she didn't have any family I would have adopted her, or at least tried to, anway," Your eyebrows are furrowed, gaze deepening at the blade of grass as you tore it apart in your hands. "But, hey, she's happy, that's the main thing and her aunt seems like a lovely woman."

With that, you push yourself off of the grass, ignoring the ache that shoots through your body. Leaving Hotch sat on the curb with a frown as you limped back into the hospital for one final check-up before your flight.

You wipe your eyes with the back of your hand, “Fuckin’ allergies.”

#cowboy reader #x male reader #x reader #reader #male reader #criminal minds x male reader #criminal minds x reader #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #aaron hotchner #spencer reid #derek morgan #david rossi #bau x male reader #bau x reader #bau x cowboy reader #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds

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thatdisasterauthor · 10 months ago

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Let's talk cover art!

Firstly, here is the first official look at the full jacket for my new book!

Camp Daze has had a really wandering path to publication, which I'll talk more about later, but back when I still didn't know what I wanted to do with it exactly, I got this crystal clear image of what I wanted the cover to look like. So I created that cover, just the front cover at the time, as more of a portfolio piece than anything. But even though it was meant to just be a portfolio piece, I loved it so damn much, and it stuck in my head hard. When I did finally decide to self publish the book, I knew I had to use this cover.

Usually, I go through a lot more iterations for my covers when it comes time to finally publish things, but this one has just stuck with me over the years as I tried to bring this novel out into the world. Back in 2023 some of you may remember I tested another cover featuring two of the main characters, and did some tumblr polls to see what people liked most, and the tent cover won by a LANDSLIDE each time. (That other cover, or the art from it anyway, will still be available other ways! Just not as THE cover for the book.)

I think the very stark, simplistic nature of the cover fits the themes of the book really well. It's do or die and all they've got is the resources in their camp--represented by the tent, the resources of the wilderness--represented by the mountains/forest, and the looming/hovering threat of a nuclear war that they don't actually know that much about. When it came time to create the full wraparound version of the cover, I added in a little archery target on the back cover because archery plays a major roll in their survival as well.

Colors wise, everything was built around the green tents. The tents are based off of the ones at my own childhood summer camp, and they play a big roll in how the camp manages to create better shelter for themselves. I think found a purple that worked well with the green because, well, they're in Colorado and "purple mountains majesty" and all that. Then it was just filling in other areas with colors that fit within the scheme. I kept everything a little more muted mostly because I just like more muted color schemes.

For the back cover I picked a few lines from the book that, I think, capture the overall vibe of the book which is "if we try, we MIGHT die, but if we DON'T try then we WILL die, so we may as well try."

And shoutout to @gallusrostromegalus for helping me write a new author bio while I was flailing around in the discord chat having a minor identity crisis, lol. The new bio kicks ass, even in this shortened version.

Something that is very important to me is to make sure cover artists are always credited, so I do have a credit for that under my author bio even though my cover artist is also, ya know, me. Just trying to set precedent so more people will start doing things like that.

So yeah! That's how this cover came together. I think it's one of my favorite covers I've ever done.

You can back the Kickstarter here to get your own special edition copy of this book!

#Camp Daze #Camp Daze Kickstarter #My Art #Illustration #Cover Art #Kickstarter #Signal Boost

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littelestvic · 10 months ago

Text

About the Damon Baker x Kris Gustin photo session and what it means to me as a queer artist obsessed with Joker Out

Note, this is not me trying to look smart and trying to talk about someone else's art pieces, although my dearest Daria made a small analysis on the Kris-Bojan set that I found very interesting, and it is interesting that these are a somewhat subjective views of Bojan and Kris's souls, or at least a visual representation of themselves as people. In any case, this is, if anything, an overview of what these art pieces make me feel and their significance to me.

First I must admit, as an artist, that these photos are beautiful and actually hold a lot of artistic value from my perspective. I think these should be seen as pieces of art and must be perceived in a different way than other Joker Out photos. However it is still very interesting how much these photos actually talk about the subject: these pieces are an exploration of Kris Gustin, the person portrayed, and I've honestly never have seen portraits that explore the nature of the subject in such a personal manner. Kris is displayed in a subjective, intimate way, whether how Damon sees him or how Kris himself sees himself deep down. I'm sure more elaborate and accurate explanations of Damon's art can be found online, as I actually didn't know of his work until now, but as I was able to read he focus a lot on the intimacy of the subject.

Anyways, there's a clear theme this session follows: femeninity and vulnerability. The usage of visible makeup (a first time for Kris on camera if I'm aware), the flowers, the exposed skin, the cloth (a typical femenine piece of clothing on Balkan/Slavic cultures), I think they were all choices to purposefully provide a more femenine vision of Kris. But he still allows himself to do poses similar to those I've seen him do before, there's still a hint of the Kris I know, his posing flows naturally and doesn't feel forced because this is just a natural extension of what he is, this is a natural exploration of his most femenine side, he is simply letting himself flow.

I think we all know Kris seems to be a man with a complex relationship with normative gender roles. Even as a cishet man he has this appearance and mannerisms that can be more related to a more "femenine" convention of gender and I have always wondered if he has ever struggled with this, and that if he has ever felt forced to keep the normative conventions of what a man should be. Things like asking to have his hair cut shorter after being called a girl when he was a child, or denying to be put makeup on by fans, he sometimes tried to run away from things that could be perceived as "feminine", maybe out of insecurity, maybe out of fear.

But there he is,

Glitter on his eyes,

Flower in his head,

Embracing himself.

I am a person with a complex relationship with gender roles. I was born a woman. I am short and tiny and have feminine features that simply cannot be ignored. I will forever be perceived as a woman by the people around me. I look like a girl, I have long hair because I am not allowed to have it short and I wear women's clothes. And while I don't want to be a girl, my relationship with femininity is actually very strong. I like pretty things, I like sparkles and pink, I like everything girly, I like girls. I've been told it's stupid to perceive myself as a guy since I look so girly, since I like so many girly things, and in times I don't feel I have deserved the masculine pronouns I use and my neutral name I've given myself (the ones I can only use online out of fear).

So I try to put some sense into it. I draw girly things because I like girly things. I draw men because I want to be like men. I draw men in pretty soft pinks and sparkles and sequins because that's what I am.

And I've found a safe place in Kris, with his non conforming masculinity that more often than not becomes femininity. As many other people like me, I like him because he helps me put sense to my feelings. I draw him in soft pastels and pretty clothes and delicate features because in my mind, if a man like him can be allowed to be femenine, then I can allow myself to feel the way I feel too. I can allow myself to simply not fit any binary gender convention, and I can allow myself to be myself. I like Kris because I find a part of me in himself, I relate to him and I see myself in his eyes. It is a complex relationship where I don't necessarily like him because I find him attractive, I am not actually sexually attracted to him; I see myself in him, in my own little weird way. I have distorted my own reality to make my own perception of him fit my needs. This is why I draw him the way I draw him. And perhaps that's why so many praise how I draw Kris. It is unique because it's personal. And I know he doesn't necessarily see himself this way, at least not in the degree I do. My Kris talks much more about how I see myself than how I see him. The way I draw Kris represents myself. My Kris is myself.

So when I saw him in this session, with the glimpse and the passion and the attitude I draw him like, it felt special.

"He looks like my art" I told myself. "He's seen himself the way I see him."

This is Kris,

This is my Kris,

This is me.

So I'm very thankful for Kris trying to open himself, and embracing this vulnerable side of him I purposefully push into the narrative of my art. He called these "therapy sessions", so I can't help but wonder if these have been helpful to him, if he has found something about him, if he has learnt to accept himself the way he is. He has helped me cope with complicated subjects of my life, and I cling to him to keep with life. He is my special little obsession that keeps me alive. So I can't help but sometimes wonder if he's happy, If he's loved, if he's content with himself.

And I think this exploration of himself will be very helpful to his soul. I am very proud of him, I am hopeful for his future, and I wish him the best.

I love you, my muse, and thank you for allowing yourself to see you with my own eyes.

#joker out #joker out fanart #kris gustin

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yuna542 · 1 year ago

Text

Connected (OT8 x reader)

Part 13<-

Part 14

Pairing: Seungmin x Reader

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Angst

Warnings: 18+, Smut, Angst, Suggestive Themes, Swearing, pet names, oral (m receiving), deep throating

Word Count: 2.4k

Note: Yea I know, I know. It’s been a while and now the part is so short… But believe me it’s just part one of my Seungmin fantasy. Wait and see my babes. Wrote a big ass part including your suggestions. If you're nice, I'll think about uploading it earlier… ;)

On your first day of your new job as the personal manager of Stray Kids, you didn't expect to be standing in front of the man you made out with last night in a club. But it soon becomes clear that the Stray Kids don't just want you as their manager.

Will this passionate arrangement end your career?

The video-shoot of Seungmin's part in the teaser turned out to be more difficult than expected. The scenes that were supposed to be prepared by the film crew just didn't work out and every few seconds something went wrong. It was extremely stressful, especially for Seungmin, because he was always being shooed from one place to another and it was boiling inside him by now, you could feel it.

Even though you had some days off, you had to join the shoot, otherwise nothing would have worked at all. Thanks to makeup, you were able to cover up the hickeys Hyunjin gave you a bit. But in the chaos, nobody paid any attention to you anyway.

Chan's part was finished pretty quickly and he was able to go back to JYP Entertainment to continue working on the album. But Seungmin was now getting all the stress from the director due to the absence of the leader.

You tried to solve the problems, but most of it was out of your control. The film crew kept messing up and you felt increasingly sorry for Seungmin. He actually had other things to do today, but, since it was already late afternoon, he wouldn't be able to make it.

That just meant a stricter schedule and way more stress for him. As you waited once again for a scene to be shot, as everyone on the set fucked up again, you gently stroked his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Minnie?", you asked softly, so only he could hear. His hands were tense and pressed tightly against his thighs. He was clearly frustrated and stressed out. This phase of preparation for the comeback was not healthy anymore and you tried everything to help the kids with their schedules but most of the time you had to care about your own work to make everything easier for them.

"It's just ridiculous now... It's setting us back for days", he growled and you pressed your lips together.

"I'm sorry. I'm already trying everything, but..."

"It's not your job, it's the film crew's job!”, he snapped angrily.

“The fact that you have to take care of it now is unacceptable. It makes me even more mad", he replied a little louder so the staff around you could hear it clearly.

Seeing him like this was painful. All this was stressing him more than he was showing, you knew that very well. The boys were already crushed by the strict time schedule and the fact that all of you couldn't even meet for dinner or a quick chat by now was awful. After a few more tries, they were at least able to wrap up the main part, but you were sent away again to wait until it was done.

"It'll be midnight by the time we get home", he sighed, annoyed, as you entered the backstage area of the set.

Here you were finally alone, away from all the hustle and noise.

"You just have to take one more shot, then we'll get out of here!", you assured him. Even if he didn't, you'd make sure of it. He was exhausted and overworked. It was enough for today and if someone would try to tell you something different, you weren't afraid to throw hands.

But at the moment you wanted most to take all the tension off his shoulders. Together you leaned next to the door, waiting for the shoot to finally go on, and he put his head back, staring at the ceiling and groaning:

"I can't do all this anymore... I'm so tense."

You ran your fingers over the hem of your top and said:

"Is there anything I can do to make you feel better? Release your tension somehow?"

After he didn't answer, you looked at him questioningly. But he already looked intently at your lips, and his eyes then traveled down your body, lingering on your neckline.

"Yes... You actually could."

His expression had changed. Instead of the sweet gleam in his eyes, there was now a dangerous twinkle. You could see all the pent-up strain in his face and breathed:

"Anything you want, Minnie."

He pulled you in front of him and cupped your cheek with his hand.

"Are you sure this is what you want?", he asked softly, letting his eyes roam over your face. You nodded curtly and the tension between you hit like a wrecking ball.

"Use me as you need."

His thumb brushed across your lips, leaving a tingle. With the other hand he pulled you closer by the waist before putting a hand around your neck without applying pressure.

Your words were enough to mess with his fantasies and he couldn’t wait to release some stress.

"Then get on your knees!"

His voice was low, but nevertheless cutting like a blade. You sank to your knees in front of him and looked up at him through your thick lashes without hesitation.

He could see your bra from this angle, the way it hugged your chest and hid away more than he wanted it to. He wanted to use you to get rid of all the anger that built up inside of him and that you looked so pretty spurred him even more on.

"I can think of some work for that sweet little mouth", he said, fully focused on your lips and brushed some hair out of your face.

"Open your blouse. Let me see your tits, sweetheart!"

His harsh tone left you questioning nothing. Surely you wanted to take the stress off of him and at the same time you felt the excitement in your stomach blooming as the bulge in his pants hovered right in front of your face. You undid the buttons of your top until your bra popped out and he licked his lips at the sight. You on your knees, ready to be used by him. This made him go feral and his head went blank.

You ran your hands along his thighs until you could feel the imprint of his length under your fingers. He grabbed your wrist and pressed your hands right on it and moved them around slightly, pushing and rubbing at his dick through the fabric of his cotton pants. You could feel it starting to stiffen, growing in your hand. It wasn’t even fully hard yet and you could tell that it was big.

"Take it out!", he said then and immediately your body also started to heat up, your face flushing, a familiar tension growing between your thighs that made your head fuzzy. You opened his pants and pulled them down along with his underwear.

His dick popped out and he gasped in relief. His length was now right in your face, so close you could smell his scent and see a bit of precum leaking from his tip. His dick was big and you could only starte at it, thinking about how you would gag on it.

Suddenly he grabbed a fist of your hair and jerked your head back so you were looking at him.

"What are you waiting for, doll?", he asked sharply, and you gasped at the sudden firm grip. His eyes were blazing with desire and he finally needed an outlet to release all that frustration. You held eye contact with him as you opened your mouth and he watched his dick disappear between your lips.

"There you go... fuck... ah I knew you were a good fucking slut", his voice rumbled low in his belly as you began bobbing your head back and forth at a steady pace. You massaged his length at the same time with your tongue and were slurping on his tip shamelessly. You added a hand as you felt his legs shake and deep moans escaped from him. His grip on your hair tightened.

"Fuck your mouth feels so good, keep taking me like that, good girl!"

You continued until you felt his other hand on your neck and a gulping sound escaped you as he began to snap his hips against your mouth in addition to your movement. Pulling on your hair, he pulled your head back until his throbbing thick slipped completely out of your mouth, rubbing just the tip against your plush lips.

He took a moment to look at you, completely under his control and he imagined what you must look like tied up as he thrusted into your dripping pussy.

"You look so pretty with my cock fucking your mouth", he said with a sinful smile, gripping your hair hard in his hand, pulling you back onto his length and swiftly shoving his dick back into your spit-filled mouth before you had time to react.

You whimpered softly as he started to put all his frustration and stress into his movements without any consideration. At the same time he buckled his hips harder against your mouth, and he bumped hard into your throat every time. By now he slammed into your face rough and fast, holding your hair tightly so you couldn't pull away. You gagged because of his immense size and only got air through your nose. Slurping noises and desperate muffled moans escaped you.

He was ruthless and that soaked your panties completely. The head of his dick bullied the back of your throat, his length moving in and out of your mouth with each relentless buck of his hips. Tears formed in the corners of your eyes due to the rough motion and you could no longer suppress the dirty whimpering and gagging.

"Oh god, you're gonna make me cum makin' pretty sounds like that", he chuckled, trying not to moan and slam harder into your already overstrained mouth. He fucked your face without mercy and you pressed your thighs together to keep from dripping on the floor. Then you felt him tighten his hand around your neck and you moaned loudly between his thrusts.

"Oh, you like that. My hand around your throat?"

He now squeezed a little tighter, but not enough to cut off your oxygen. He looked down at you and was only pushed further. You were surprised the way the lovingly boy was using you so roughly, but you could feel your whole body heating up from the fire that was by now burning deep inside you.

Your pussy felt painfully untouched and wet between your legs, but he didn't stop and became even faster. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't resist. He was caught up in the bliss. You were gagging around him, making naughty, wet sounds as he used your mouth like his own personal fucktoy.

When he rutted even deeper into your throat, you felt him start twitching, wet sounds filling your ears as he fucked into your face, making you cry due to the little air you got through your nose and the painful abuse of your mouth.

"Touch yourself, doll!", he demanded between his moans and he didn't have to say that twice. You started to twirl your clit between your fingers and quickly to rub harder. It didn't take long and your orgasm rolled in. When you came, he let go of you for a moment as your body trembled, but before you could see clearly again, he grabbed your hair again, and lined himself back up with your lips. With a low moan, he was pushing himself back into your mouth. You took him willingly, tongue out, eyes trained up on him and your body still tingled from the high.

You moaned around him, appreciating the way his hard cock filled your mouth and made your jaw ache. Your throat was burning, jaw sore, but you couldn't stop to suck him off. His dick was like a drug you couldn’t stop taking.

„Fuck so pretty... You doing so good babe!", he mumbled between choked breaths while he watched you getting ruined by him. Your cheeks were stained with tears and Make-up and your lips were swollen.

Then he fell apart. He threw his head back, brows stitched together and with a final push into your throat, he came into your mouth. You swallowed all of it and he looked at you with a relieved smile while he pulled his dick out of you.

His hand was still wrapped up in your hair, keeping you in place for him as he came down. He wiped some more cum from your lip with his thumb and then pulled you to your feet.

Just in time, as someone knocked on the door and entered shortly after.

Seungmin quickly pulled up his pants and you turned away. Your face and hair were probably a disaster, which is why you quickly went to the bathroom while Seungmin was taken back to the set to finally do the last shots.

You didn't get a chance to talk again there.

As he got ready to head to the dorms, he looked completely exhausted, though not as tense anymore. You would definitely come up with something else to get back at him a little.

The next day everybody was busy with their schedules, while you cleaned out your apartment, which was good as you could barely speak properly without scratchy pain in your throat.

The boys took turns helping you when their work allowed it, so it only took a few days to have all your belongings in your new room.

That you would soon be a part of the Stray Kids dorms was still a strange idea. But Chan already announced it accidentally on a stream and fans had been beyond excited about it ever since. Unofficially you were counted as the 9th member of the band, by stay, which was funny considering you only ended up there because of your job.

You were the sensation of the industry at the moment and social media was flooded with edits and clips of you with the boys.

Exactly like Mrs Chung said, there were also many theories as to whether you dated or even slept with any of the kids. These headlines ensured Stray Kids were in the news ahead of their comeback, which was JYP's goal all along.

You could only hope that things would continue to go so well for you. Because if someone found out that you even slept with the whole band, you'd be screwed.

->Part 15

——————————————————————-

Taglist (closed):

@poisonivy21 @elizalabs3 @chartrucewhore @smutlemononeshot @hgema @bookwyrm28 @jeongchaos @jihanlovic @comingupwithacoolnameishard @marked-unknown @yuhjoeyuh @bakedlilgoonie @itstorimf @toomuchtellyneck @ana-stasssiaaa @galaxypox @n034sy @amara-mars @purple-bell @amararosesblog @tori719 @rindomo @freakinthesheets-excelexcel @niaalove @crazyllamasurfer @luunaruwu @mariegalea @kimseungminsprincess @julciaqwerty @officialshania @whore4stucky9104 @foxinnie8 @i-dont-know-me-either @sirenthalia @mixling-blog @httpsmultifandom @hyunlixwife @eastleighsblog @tzalethhwang @queenofdragons12 @fixation-dump @midsoulz @emmxxsworld @scarletrosesposts @sugahannie @jinniespuppy @minervasystem @tasteskz-sworld @hyunlixsbbygirl @3rachasninja

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mosneakers · 10 months ago

Text

Brick's Spooky Day party is in full swing. The atmosphere is alive with laughter and merriment and dancing under the full moon light. Occasional howls emanating from the thick woods of Moonwood Mill, and the deep pulsating beat of the eerie spooky-themed music, send waves of anxiety-induced nausea through Skye Darling's tummy. She considers leaving early.

Selene dances entrancingly around the grassy field as if no one's watching, yet every movement is calculated to capture Lou's feral attention. Their eyes occasionally meet, and with each glance a magnetic pull intensifies. Lou, torn between the painful rumors of her involvement with Brick Darling, and the irresistible force pulling him closer, as if the moon itself is guiding him, decides to push aside his uncertainties and finally say something to her.

Lou: Love the costume...

Selene: [Chuckles] Thanks. You make a pretty convincing pizza boy, yourself! I thought mine was a little on the nose, actually. Lou: Nah, it's perfect—it's very fitting, hah. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for inviting us, by the way. Selene: Hey, thank Brick. It was all his idea. I just helped him set it all up. He's really trying to build bridges between the communities.

Lou: [Nods gently] Right, I'll be sure to do that. Well whoever's idea it was, I'm glad I made it out, this is a nice party. Looks good. Selene: [Smiles] It's good to see you, Lou— Lou: —Good to see you too. Real good. You look happy. I'm glad you found someone to make you happy, Lenie.

Selene: What? You mean Brick? [Laughs] No, I'm not -with- Brick. We just help each other out from time to time. But we're just friends. In fact, Brick's on a mission to find his fated mate, and I'm supposed to be his wing-wolf tonight, haha.

Lou's eyes widen impulsively. A stifled, shaky exhale of relief slips passed his lips and and a broad grin appears as he tries to play it cool.

Lou: Oh! Cool, cool. Very cool. And how's that going?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the empty grassy lot, Wolfegang approaches Brick with a curious grin. Wolfegang: Hey big guy. [Hearty pat on shoulder] Nice party. Brick: Ayy, thanks man! Glad you could make it. Your costume is siiick. You make a way better pizza guy than Lou's version. Wolfegang: [Blinks slowly] Thanks, brother. Hey, quick question. That young lady hanging out with your cousin... I don't believe I've had the honor of meeting her... Happen to know her name? Brick: Oh her? That's Janie. [Cocks eyebrow] Pretty, huh?

Wolfegang: Pretty? Brick, please, my brother in Wolfhood... [clears throat] From the moment I caught but a glimpse of her eyes in pale moonlight, as she twirled with a carefree and insouciant charm, I found myself ensnared in an irresistible magnetic pull, a force from which I am yet to break free. Her scent alone has my head spinning. I simply cannot be any more clear, I have never encountered a woman like her in all of my years. Brick, my lupine comrade, forgive my directness, but I must inquire: Is she a romantic interest of yours? Your fated mate, perhaps?

Brick: ... I don't know yet, dude. I haven't tested things out with her to get that "special feeling" everyone keeps talking about. Wolfegang: I would hate to step on your toes, friend, but I would be forever grateful to you, if you could introduce me to this enigmatic soul. Brick: [Laughter] Bro what? Why you so worried about stepping on my toes? I wore my work boots. But yeah dude, I can introduce you. You always this weird when you make a new friend?

#ts4 #ts4 story #ts4 gameplay #Red Wolf Fury #RWFseason2 #Moonwood Mill #Brick Darling #Lou Howl #Selene Lópes #Caterpillar Darling #Skye Darling #Janie Books #Wolfegang Wilde

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tireddovahkiin · 4 months ago

Text

OKAY I HAVE TO RANT ABOUT THESE HILLARIOUS SCENARIOS I CAME UP WITH- (At least to me!)

Basically Vincent Valentine having his ass forced to babysit my OC Junior who's a Twitch streamer. This is how it goes (I might even draw this):

[have in mind that Junior is a cringey ass teenager💀]

This oc x canon interaction is strictly platonic!

. . .

*stream starts with Juniors face in the webcam*

Junior: ".... Hello everybody my name is Markipl-" *breaks character*

Junior: How's it GOINNN', mothershockers, IT'S YA BOIIII Junie, with a VERY special guest today!~ ... Give it up for da babysitter, the one and only, Vincent Valentine~!!!! *dramatic ahh Will Smith showing off hand pose*

*camera is set so only Vincents torso is shown as he sits cross-armed, his head and legs off-screen* (its gonna be like that during the entire stream)

*awkward silence*

Junior: ... Psst. Hey. Dude. Peace sign. Show it to the camera.

Vincent:

Junior: *nudges his gloved hand*

Vincent:

Vincent: *awkwardly shows the sign to the camera*

Junior: LET'G GOOOO-

Junior: *reading the comments*

"What is Dracula doing in your house dawg"

"AYO SICK COSPLAY DUDE- How did you make him do it"

"He looks like the type of person who says: 'Fare-thee-well folks, hale be thou' to people unironically"

"Oh no... is he going to start talking about the war"

"bLAh, bLAH bLAH"

"Don't com to ma house or I'll succ yo di- I MEAN BLOOD"

Junior: Well, the audience seems to like you already, man. What do you have to say about that, Vincent? *presents imaginary microphone to Vincent off-screen*

Vincent:

Junior: Understandable, have a great day.

Junior: —And that is why I personally think flies are spy cams sent from aliens out in space.

Vincent:

Chat:

Chat: *Donkey_King43 donated $1.55 through super chat* "Stfu you dollar tree PaRappa The Rapper ahh bootleg" [bc Junior is an antro dog]

Junior: YOU MOTHERFU-

Vincent: *headbutt*

Junior: *sobbing into Vincents arm* I'M DO— YALL ARE JUST MEAN- I GIVE MY SOUL HERE TO ENTERTAIN PEOPLE I DON'T EVEN KNOW, I GIVE UP MY PRIDE IN HANDS TO THE GATES OF VIEWERES JUDGEMENT LIKE A BLEEDING SACRIFICIAL HEART, AS I BECOME NOTHING BUT A MERE TOY WITH NO MEANING AND PURPOSE IN YOUR EYES—

Vincent:

*few minutes later*

Junior: *kazotsky kicking to Mortal Kombat theme while wearing a creeper hat and minecraft sunglasses* I ate soap with japapeño sauce and sprinkles this morning! It was bussin' let me tell ya—

Vincent: (??????)

Junior: Vincent, question from a fan. What if you solve a math test while LeBron James is purple, does that make racoons skeleton knives or 6 AM greek yogurt under alphabet?

Vincent:

Junior: He thinks the answer is Mexico.

Chat: Xxdollasigndude: "Yo if you and your medieval knight babysitter bro sing "If you're happy and you know it" song I'll give you 300$ hands down"

Junior: *jumps and clears throat* HOLY— OKAY OKAY— VINCENT COME ON AT LEAST CLAP FOR ME BRO PLEASE— ANYWAYS— If you're happy and you know clap your hands...! *looks at Vincent in ecstatic hope*

Vincent:

Vincent: *after five seconds, he caves in, and claps two times*

Junior: *grins like an idiot, even happier* —If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

Vincent: *pause* *clap clap*

Junior: If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it, if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands...!

Vincent: *pause* *clap clap*

*siiiiiiiilence*

Chat: ... *Xxdollasigndude donated $300.00 through super chat-*

Junior: IYEEEE—

Junior: *after one hour, he finally beats a level, releasing a victory scream and offering Vincent hand for a high five*

Vincent: *ignores*

Junior: *pouts*

Chat: *Khorn_lord donated $0.55 through super chat* "Haha get left on seen loser"

Junior: *looks at Vincent*

Vincent:

Junior: *offers a hand again*

Vincent: *high fives*

Junior: HAH! SUCK ON THAT YOU SON OF A BI—

Vincent: *headbutt*

Junior: And I'll make sure to show you just how much of a pro I am! I'll drink five cans on cola in ONE go, no reaction! Alright, buckle up! THREE, TWO, ONE—

*a few moments later insert*

Junior: *is knocked out dead asleep and snoring like an engine from the caffeine* (ADHD skill💀)

Vincent:

Vincent: *he finally picks up the camera, trying to figure out how to shut it off*

*pause*

Vincent: *reveals his face* To the rude ones in this 'chat' today, a message from me: I will find you. One way... Or another.

*ends the stream*

(Fun fact: Junior's account went viral over night because of Vincent.)

[BROS SUCH A SOFTIE FOR KIDS I JUST KNOW ITTT]

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bluemallow-log · 19 days ago

Note

LH Witch Hunt AU for the wip game??

OMG! Hi!!!

I didn't expect someone would ask me about my WIP, particularly that one 😳😳😳

Well, just like the name suggests, it's a Levihan story that is set during the mass hysteria of witch-hunting in the Middle Ages.

I think I was inspired after watching season 2 of A Discovery of Witches TV Series, so this idea has been in my draft for quite some time (the document itself dates back to January 2021).

So, what is this AU about?

(I will explain my ideas in bullet points to make them more organised)

At first, I wanted to set the story in a fantastical medieval era, with Levi as a witch hunter and Hange as a witch. I even made a freaking detailed lore for the world LMAO (from the world-building to the power system). I took a lot of details from the canon story and modified them by adding some elements of magic and witchcraft.

However, after many hours of thinking and doing some research, I decided to forgo the fantasy element entirely. I was thinking of approaching the story more realistically. Since the history of witch hunting is very closely related to how society viewed women and religion back then, I found myself more interested in exploring those themes (women who do not fit the standard and blind trust in religion).

The story still sets in middle age, but I still don't know which decade precisely.

Levi is a witch hunter, and I was thinking that he's part of some special force in the kingdom that specialises in witch hunting.

Hange is just an ordinary young woman who lives alone in the woods. She works as an apothecary in the town.

I decided to make Miche and Hange half-siblings here (I was inspired by Isayama who originally wanted to make them related). I just think it would offer me an interesting opportunity to explore their relationship.

Miche is a witch hunter as well, he works with Levi (and Erwin). However, in my head, he's pretty secretive with his personal life, so both Levi and Erwin are not aware that Miche has a younger sister (Hange)

The first chapter will go something like this: Levi and Erwin are lost in the woods, it is already dark so they are thinking of waiting (camping) until sunrise. But then they find a small cottage and decide to ask whether they can stay for the night.

That's where Levi (and Erwin) meet Hange for the first time

Since Hange lives alone, has various herbs around her cottage, owns two cats, and acts quite "eccentric", perhaps it makes both Levi and Erwin a bit suspicious of her

Anyway, somewhere down the line, Hange will be accused as a witch and she will be forced to take an unfair trial (which will lead her to be burned alive).

I think, by that point, Levi who is already fond of her (they have become quite close), will be helpless. I still don't know for sure, but maybe he is in a dilemma, like he feels both anger (thinking that he was "bewitched" by her) and also pity (he can't stand seeing her being tortured). Also, deep down, I think he does not want to believe that she's a witch

Perhaps Levi will experience intense inner turmoil. Questioning all the things that he was taught as right + maybe his hatred/trauma toward all the witches.

He wants to save her but what if she's actually a witch? 😫

I thought it would be interesting if Miche is against the idea of Levi and Hange being close? I still have no clear idea what's the reason, but I want to write a somehow tense dynamic between Miche and Levi :3

I also think that Miche will try so hard to prove that Hange is innocent (even though it will cost him his position in the kingdom). However, Hange does not want to drag him into this, so maybe she will somehow sacrifice herself to protect Miche.

The main pairing in this story will be Levihan (duh), but I also want to explore Miche and Nanaba's relationship, so MicheNana will be the secondary pairing (originally, I made Nanaba a servant in the palace, but I probably gonna change it).

Maybe there will be other pairings, but I'm still not sure. In my old draft (the fantasy one), I included Yumihisu and Aruani (but idk whether I will include them in the new story, I don't even know if I will include the 104th kids).

The idea is still very raw and messy. I haven't even done anything to this story for years. However, I do want to explore this idea in the future. So, perhaps I will revisit this again later :)

Also, because I was extra af, I made a map for this story HAHA (please excuse the poor graphic)

Apparently, I also saved some medieval clothing references (what can I say, I love fashion and I love history)

So yeah, I guess that's all :D

Sorry for the long-ass answer (I couldn't stop myself from info dumping XD). If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

Anyway, thank you for asking me about this idea of mine! I actually really adore this idea and so I'm happy that I get to yap about this HAHA. I really appreciate it :D

Have a nice day!! 💖💖💖

#blue’s mailbox #levihan #if only I'm rich #believe me I will quit my job and focus all of my energy into writing fics #ngl I really want to turn this into fic!!!#I love the themes and the setting

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supernovaa-remnant · 1 year ago

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'The characters didn't do what I wanted' so true.

It makes me scratch my head that r!wil starts sort of worshipping r!dream without being aware of the fact that he is indeed, a deity.

How does it feel for dream? He can hear/feel prayers, we know that, but is it any different? Will he ever reveal his true self? Or more like, reveal who he is, I don't think it would be great for dream to show up one day in blinding light with thousand eyes.

Does their relationship affect anything or anyone else? For example, the world sensing one of its biggest lords is down, in the mortal part or maybe loyal worshippers / priests feeling different

aksljdgsjhkdlksjahghdjjslkdjhsks karo I am so glad you've asked about this au (this au is actually taking over my mind send help lmao)

also yeah I went into this thinking "yippee!! healthy dreambur dynamic!!" and then the dreambur in question cornered me in a dark alley and forced me to write unhealthy devotion and themes of obsession and possession.

r!wilbur worshipping r!dream without even knowing that they're residing in a temple dedicated to dream is soooo arkrjsghdkjshgdjhshdshdgs

it feels a bit, odd, for dream. in some ways, it feels like a rush of power. it's so much more intimate in a way that dream wasn't aware was possible. because, sure, he can hear prayers from just about anyone, but most of the big temples have smaller prayer areas in which the prayers go to some spirits/angels under dream's domain (they're blobs, btw, very important you should know this).

uhm, some background for the god system in this au. there's major gods and minor gods and spirits/angels. both major gods and minor gods have their own little spirits, but major gods can also have minor gods who are essentially in charge of a subsect of their domain (ex: foolish in this au is a minor god under dream's domain of creation).

so, the reason dream heard wilbur's initial prayer loud and clear is because he didn't have any spirits stationed to essentially intercept calls at the temple because it was long since abandoned.

anyway, when wilbur begins praying directly to dream rather than a nameless god, the prayers wash over dream in waves. it's almost overwhelming, the power it holds. it's so much more intimate when wilbur is praying to dream directly, and in some ways it feels as though their souls are actually brushing against each other. wilbur doesn't realize it, but dream can very very clearly feel the difference. eventually dream does reveal that he's a god, but I haven't thought super hard about it yet.

important thing to know about dream in this au: he was not born a god. he became a god by killing the previous god of creation. this greatly upset the balance of the world as it was the first time a major god had been killed, and it essentially set the world into a sort of "dark age." this happened ~ a millennia before dream meets wilbur.

so, dream is more accustomed to the mortal realm than some other gods may be (though it does greatly depend on the god). a god existing in the mortal realm doesn't really cause anything big, but the other gods do notice, especially when it's a major god. dream does disappear sometimes to take care of the bigger prayers or to deal with godly stuff, but he keeps coming back for wilbur, something almost baffling (and, depending on the individual, concerning) to the other gods.

as for the other worshipers, they feel a bit different, but they don't think it's out of the ordinary. the gods in general go through phases of being more or less attentive to their followers. it's pretty normal, but, of course, the worshipers are doing everything in their power to appease dream so that he becomes more attentive again lol. mortals are needy like that.

as for the other gods, they notice. kristin & philza keep an eye on it (they were there when dream killed the previous god of creation.. it was something that really shook the entire divine community). techno is concerned for dream, because techno was there for a lot of the aftermath of dream's past and is worried about him falling back into destructive habits.

so, yeah, I hope that answers your question <3

#this au is living rent free in my mind rn #tbh I should've expected this #I go crazy when I get to play around with religious imagery and symbolism #as well as putting literal gods in a story??#mix that with the gods existing but r!wil deciding to worship who he thinks is a mortal instead?#asldhgjjdsldghskjdlasjhdkljdsks it's consuming my mind lmao #stella answers #sioster #repentance au #madduo #cdreambur

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sneezemonster15 · 2 years ago

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I think the only obvious fact about sns is their apparent love for each other. Im a little confused on their possible homosexuality, but its not as obvious as you say it is. You need to look twice to catch them. I wish you would elaborate on where it is so obvious.

I have written about it several times. You can search SNS tags on my blog. For both Naruto and Sasuke.

You are misstating me a lot. I have always maintained that their sexuality is subtly shown, subtle as compared to the usual shounen tropes. But shown nonetheless. It has been obvious to me because I am quite exposed to LGBTQ+ cinema, I talk about these films often on this blog. So the usual tropes used in gay coming of age drama and love stories are obvious to me. I have never said that it is obvious to everyone. I am always talking about subtleties and layering. I don't know what content of mine you have been reading. Lol.

Look man, even if you weren't exposed to these themes, the story itself is written pretty intuitively and it certainly is written to encourage curiosity in the average audience. Sure, not everything is made crystal clear to the audience deliberately, but it's crazy how blatantly layered it is visually and narratively. Even during my first watch, i would get puzzled or hooked a lot of times and curiosity made me mad. While i could surely recognise the tropes, that it was shounen had sent me for a toss, it was certainly not easy to digest. But then I remembered watching Cardcaptor Sakura and I felt better lol. It was quite a strange experience to see a gay love story in what's practically a kids show meant for boys. I know how genres work. But I waited until the end to go looking for fan discourses, I wanted a watching experience unperturbed by extraneous things. Most of all, Kishi's storytelling hooked me, he is a hell of a writer honestly. He really knows where to strike and what to use to strike with. That brutal brutal beautiful man. Only a truly intuitive, empathetic and sensitive person can write something like that. And talented af to boot.

Anyway, honestly, many sensitive readers or viewers could tell that there was something not quite right with the way the romance was superficially set up in the story. Naruto and Sakura, Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata. It was a subliminal response. It takes some time to dismantle it in your head, but you get used to it with time. When reading the manga, I did struggle initially because it was a new medium for me, i settled down soon enough. It was very enjoyable. And it only reinforced everything I knew with the anime even more acutely.

One of my fav fellow Naruto fans, clocked it out at the age 13. A child. Simply curiosity and an advanced sense of comprehension. And a looooot of others could tell in their first watch. That they are gay has been the running narrative since the beginning of this manga, many fans have been making memes and jokes about it, SNS communities and channels have millions of subscribers the world over. And they are not analysis bloggers like me, lol. You really think it's that unclear?

Look I am not taking away from anyone if they cannot get it at first glance. Some can, some cannot. There are several factors. Depends on how sharp your comprehension is or how experienced you are, or how exposed you are to gay tropes and narrative devices. But the good thing is, one can always develop their senses, train them, discipline their eyes and ears and mind, to focus more and pay attention, ask questions. It's how you enjoy media in all its glory.

Naruto inspires so much in people, so many from the queer community relate to Sasuke and Naruto, so many closeted folks see themselves in Naruto and Sasuke, and are comforted by it, inspired even. Representation matters. So much empathy to go around. I am not even the first person to have started talking about it lol, how come you missed all the others? It has been the topic of hot debates for years all over the world man. They have been talking about how obvious it has been from almost the get go. You can't measure everyone with the same lenses. Not everyone would have the same skill sets.

The short of it is, lol, it's obvious if you know what you are looking at. It's a little confusing and you have to look twice if you don't know what you are looking at but are curious nonetheless so you invest and then find out that way. But if you are closed off and unreceptive, you probably won't have the benefit of this lovely story in all its radiance. Or any story.

#ask #naruto #sasuke #sns

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blackjackkent · 8 months ago

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✨🛒🤡✍🏻🎶 for the writing meme! However many of those or few of them you would like I just got overzealous choosing so 😅

(Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask)

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Ah, the dreaded self-compliment. XD I am not good at these.

I think I have gotten quite good at character voices - making them accurate to canon, hearing them in my head, distinguishing them from each other, playing them off each other. Most of my fics are very dialogue heavy and so I think my facility with this makes them stronger by far and I'm proud of that. c:

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

There are probably a lot of different answers to this (this is one of those questions where I would love to get a reader's perspective as well). Off the top of my head though - the vast majority of my fic writing falls within the theme of missing scenes - expanding on canon moments or scenarios that could have extra depth to them, filling in gaps not covered by the main story, etc. I enjoy playing with moments where two characters connect over something subtle/non-obvious that they have in common (all of my fics about Jaheira and Karlach's friendship are variations on this for instance).

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

In trying to answer this question, I have looked back at my fics and realized that while they often have a lot of humor in them, it's not really laugh-out-loud funny so much as sort of muted and laced through. Honestly, some of my best humorous moments have been in the shorter banter things I've written as part of my liveblogs - this interchange for instance always makes me smile still, and the conversation at the end of this post also.

I do get a kick out of the mental image of Lae'zel yeeting Buddy out of the tent in "Owlbear Vignettes". And I'm also proud of the lightheartedness of Peyter's introduction in "The Two Sides of the Coin" (a fic which is otherwise quite sad):

“Peyter! Ah, stlarn --” Jaheira sneezes and thumps a fist lightly against the wall, shaking her head to clear it. “Peyter, do you never clean this place?” “What good? It only gathers the dust again.” His high, cheerful voice has no immediately obvious source, but drifts from somewhere within the massive stacks of battered books and shelves of trinkets that crowd the small room on all sides. “You should know, Jaheira, that people are going around saying you're dead again.” “I am - I have merely decided to come haunt you in particular,” Jaheira says dryly. “I should be so lucky.”

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

I do! The lovely @cindymeltzer has beta'd a number of fics for me - which is increasingly generous given I'm deep in the Baldur's Gate hyperfixation hole currently, a set of games she has not in fact played but lets me hurl feels at her about anyway. XD

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I don't really. I'm one of those people who has to turn the music down to think clearly, especially if it has lyrics. XD

#ask meme #istibaethoriel #thank you for the ask! :D #sorry it took a min to get the answers out haha #these were fun to think about

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gaiaxygang · 11 months ago

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now i need to hear you talk about homeschool

i really dont like home school

it's a good thing blacklist sucks more because thats the only thing keeping home school from becoming my least favourite "this high school is fucked up" show. but ever since i found out what blacklist's source material is like (romance centric NOT mystery centric like the series tries to be) i gave up on that one. ANYWAYS

home school is bad. it's themes are all over the place, the execution is meh and i don't even like the messages themselves (this might be a personal thing). i would say 2/3 of the characters are not well developed despite there being 18 episodes.

erm. spoilers ahead (i will try to be vague if i can). also quite a bit of discussion of child abuse yknow typical home school things. phrasing not really the best but hopefully i get my point across

the themes and messages

this isn't clear from the start but home school is ultimately about healing from abuse/trauma and how things with good intent behind them can end up... bad. this is fine on it's own but the details of it within home school itself is....... erm...........

one of the key points of the ending is that violence/murder should never be the solution even to things like abuse because it turns you into a monster as well. i don't like this i think it's stupid personally but it fails at executing this well either way. you cannot tell me violence turns you into a monster and love is the solution when one of your characters is forced to kill or at least seriously injure her abusive dad in a previous episode (WHICH IS THE ENTIRE REASON SHE HASN'T FLED THE COUNTRY BY NOW).

you could say it's never confirmed he died! but he's not there in the final episodes with all the other parents and instead her (equally shitty) mom is there which seems to imply that she killed him! or put him in a coma! home school never brings this up and if i think too hard about it my head will burst open.

there's also how home school (the building that would become home school later) has always been.... abusive. i don't talk about this ever because i don't know how to phrase it well but we're shown that even before the orphanage became home school the children under it's care were mistreated. run and maki's abusive stepdad who becomes a cofounder of home school being one of them and it seems like a set up for a story about the cycles of abuse and violence, and (this is my personal reading) that very building is used as a metaphor for this.

but also it isn't. home school was founded as a place for unwanted (rich) children, meant as a safe haven but later turns into a terrible terrible one because the 2 people who run it are scummy. this is fine. until the twist that amin was actually good all along! he was just brainwashed and after the brainwashing was undone he's normal. this is... okay.... but thematically i think it's awful and comes a bit too close to abuse apologism (run saying that he knew something was wrong because the amin HE met in childhood wouldn't abuse students and lock him up in a room for years!!! and run being RIGHT? because amin was brainwashed???)

the ending is also (cringes)(disgusted) because the 2 masterminds who brainwashed amin are arrested, amin dies of old age and run becomes the new headmaster of home school and everything is fine! the kids have each other and home school is no longer a scummy institution. it's like a kids show in the absolute worst way and even then i know shows aimed at kids with more nuance and thought put into them than home school. you cannot write a story LIKE THIS and conclude it with "these 2 people were the problem the whole time" ????????????? it's like they want me to pull my hair out.

wow this is horribly disorganised. there's also the framing of home school as trying to teach good lessons to the children through tough methods. methods such as locking up and retraumatising a student they KNOW is innocent until the real culprits confess (?????), punishing students who are on time because they couldn't get the latecomers to wake up on time (????????), starving the students and pitting them against each other (????????????????) to build cooperation and teamwork and love. the end of episode quotes (like the ones in some other shows) also support this and treat it like a good thing, the masters were right for traumatising kids to get them to love one another! (i remember some speculation that this was intentional and they were going to subvert it. this did not happen).

at least they don't do go the typical thai series route of sloppy reconciliation with parents. i've had enough of that (happy birthday is directed by the same person and i felt like the reconciliation between tonmai and his family was done pretty well so! thank you p'fon).

the characters

i didn't expect every character to be given a crazy amount of depth because it's a large cast but they couldn't even hit the bare minimum for some of them so you could say i was Very Disappointed. i ended up only caring about white out of the main 4 (don't even get me started on how much i dislike that there is a Main 4 in the first place) and my favourite character ended up being jingjai.

pennueng, phleng and biu are painfully underutilised. phleng and pennueng had potential to be very interesting but got pretty much dropped after the first few episodes (i was especially disappointed with phleng lol i love myself a flawed girl who acts out and lies as a trauma response. if only she didn't immediately change after one of them talked her down). it seemed like they didn't have a full idea of what to do with biu, her and phleng's reconciliation was also pretty meh. did not care enough.

they forgot about jean. he's the one that got done the worst by the show sorry he shows up does nothing and becomes biu's love interest. nothing4nothing i guess.

the rest of the cast are fine but this show is allergic to depth and nuance. there was a lot that could've been said about children who grow up unloved and how it manifests (particularly with jingjai, hugo, fuji and phleng) then the show just does not do that. we skip right past jingjai and hugo's bullying but then again i guess they needed plot to plot so there wasn't much time.

while it was airing i saw a post comparing maki to akk from the eclipse, saying they could have similar arcs, with maki being the class president that sticks closely to the rules (waking up on time even without an alarm). she ends up being... nothing like akk! i had my own problems with the eclipse but one is obviously better than the other.

i really liked the twins though. most shows (cough the gifted cough) forget about them but mek and mork had a very interesting storyline even if they got reduced to comic relief with pennueng after. absolute Twin Misery on display.

why did every single character get into a romantic relationship? ALL of them were paired in "expected" duos (as a prsk fan this makes me cringe) and they just put fuji with the twins i guess. some of these characters had ONE conversation or notable scene and suddenly they're dating i guess (???) i liked jingjai and hugo i think about them once every few weeks, and i can kinda see why tibetmaki and naiwhite ended up together but i don't think anything else was necessary. if anything i think biuphleng should've kisse-

damn. this ended up long. thank you for reading. if i had to say anything good about home school is that most of the cast were fantastic with their roles (to be expected) and the styling is good if you overlook how unrealistic it is for everyone to just have perfect hair and makeup all the time. prigkhing's hair looks good here (low bar but many shows cannot style her hair well) and the twins looking more distinct over time (someone said it was things you couldn't do with the other's face but i'm not good with faces so i can't confirm this) is a nice touch.

this is the main thing bringing down my expectations for high school frenemy tbh. p'fon has good shows (i enjoyed happy birthday/my precious, heard 10 years ticket is good and i expect 23.5 to be simple but good) but this type of show is.... hm........ it's probably going to be delayed too i'm not expecting it before the 2nd half 2024 (unlike the gmmtv2024 pt 1 shows) seeing how her shows just do not seem to come out on time LMAO

#inbox #THIS IS LONG SO SORRY LMAOAOAOOAO #i have so many strong feelings on this one my b

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frankbelloriley · 11 months ago

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Here's some of the best things I've watched in 2023.

New releases (an incomplete list because I'm gonna catch up on more stuff in January, so I'm only going to put seven):

Godzilla Minus One - An absolute hoot of a time at the movies. A human melodrama interrupted by a giant city destroying lizard. A fascinating deviation from Shin Godzilla which is more of "what if the bureaucracy of In The Loop had to deal with a radioactive monster" satire, while this goes for pure thrills and audience pleasing moments. Between this and last year's RRR, how are other countries better at pure audience pleasers than us?

The Boy and the Heron - I walked out of The Wind Rises in 2013 thinking, "Yeah, that perfectly caps Hayao Miyazaki's career. After telling the story of how a man's imagination ran away from him and questioning the impact of his life's work, what else does he need to say?" I walked out of The Boy and the Heron thinking, "So that's what."

Barbie/Asteroid City - I'm putting both together because Greta Gerwig has joined Wes Anderson in making movies with one singular moment that seem genetically engineered to wreck me (I will not say what they are here because chill bro, I don't know you like that.). That and both telling their stories through production design. I would hope that the lesson from Barbie making a billion dollars would be, "maybe shoot things on actual sets instead of green screen studios," but it's going to be, "find me another doll to make a movie from." As for Wes Anderson, it's so weird that the criticism he gets is, "it's too Wes Anderson-y." You want him to dilute his voice and make it...what exactly? Look, you like what you like, but why do some people want Wes Anderson to make less what he likes? Anyway, I thought this movie was Wes's clever way to be introspective about his storytelling process, and it's one I'm going to revisit soon.

Killers of the Flower Moon - I've seen this twice, and while I never thought the three and a half hours dragged the first time, it flew by the second time. I also never thought The Irishman dragged on either, almost as if Thelma Schoonmaker and Martin Scorsese know what they're doing, but then again I don't have a two second attention span (some of y'all need to get off the damn TikTok and quit making me feel older than seeing the startling amount of grays I see on my head and in my facial hair in the mirror when I say that). The criticism that it should have been centered on Mollie instead of Ernest almost willfully misunderstands what Scorsese's artistic choice to focus on one of his most unsympathetic protagonists in his career. Scorsese is placing you in Leonardo DiCaprio's shoes because you in the audience are more likely to be Ernest than you will ever be to Mollie, and he wants you to sit with that uncomfort. That and Martin Scorsese knows the limits of empathy in that while he can understand Mollie's pain and the trauma endured by the Osage nation still felt today, he cannot truly know it to tell their side of the story. That should be clear from the start if people knew what empathy actually was, but some of y'all think empathy is binging a season of Ted Lasso in a weekend (wow, 2023 really left me cranky).

Ferrari - My joke to a friend coming out of this movie was, "you will believe Adam Driver is Italian," but Michael Mann's latest has hung around in my head ever since. Some call Driver's performance stilted or stiff as if that isn't a creative choice of needing to seem still while anxiety and peril go on behind his eyes in the face of very real peril and danger in 1950s motosports. Almost as if Mann has history of exploring themes of masculinity as a mask that both helps and hurts depending on the context. Penelope Cruz is also incredible here, adding life to a role that, played wrongly, makes the movie fall apart, but ties the whole thing together emotionally. I haven't seen two actors play off this well against each other since James Gandolfini and Edie Falco when I finished The Sopranos earlier this year.

Oppenheimer - Like this year's Miyazaki and Scorsese's works, feels like a culmination of all of Nolan's previous films. Great stuff, in addition to being a movie you can say, "hey, it's that guy" literally five minutes. I've written too much on all these already, so I will say is: Christopher Nolan is never going to work for Warner Brothers ever again.

Some new to me watches in 2023 I really loved:

Written On The Wind - This by Douglas Sirk was a revelation to me. I had no idea white people were emotionally capable of making Telenovelas.

Rio Bravo - Every time I've watched a Howard Hawks picture, I come away thinking they're among the most entertaining things I've watched. A Western that is less about the codes of honor than it is just hanging out.

The Heroic Trio/Magnificent Warriors/Royal Warriors - all of these were part of Criterion Channel's Michelle Yeoh collection, and they're all great with fantastic action set pieces. Michelle Yeoh stars in, respectively, a comic book movie, a period serial kind of like Indiana Jones, and a cop action drama that starts with her foiling an airplane hijacking.

Mississippi Masala - American independent movies used to be "find two hot and talent actors that have chemistry and build a movie around it." We used to be a proper country.

Decision To Leave - Probably would've been my favorite movie of 2022 if I had gotten around to seeing it then.

The Yakuza - In recent years, Robert Mitchum has become one of my all time favorite actors. We used to have guys with lines on their faces that would tell a story without saying anything (RIP director Sydney Pollack's Michael Clayton castmate Tom Wilkinson while I'm at it). The story of friendship and duty between Mitchum and Ken Takakura is the stuff of Dudes Rock (Melancholy Edition).

Strange Days - Incredibly prescient in how we would use phone cameras and how social media would rot our brains back in the 1990s. Doubles as the origin of a Fatboy Slim song. Worth a watch for Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett's chemistry alone.

Going to throw in a rewatch that blew me away this year, and that was Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure. I hadn't seen it since a Horror In Film class in undergrad, and it is an utter clinic in how film editing can make a viewer feel dread at any moment. The final shot is incredible.

#i wrote this post on here in my drafts so i could post to facebook and figured 'why don't i post it on here?'#the facebook post also has my 2023 reading but since i already posted about that kinda didn't see the point

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