#as cheesy as this scene was it's one of my favorites. there's no real reason for it it just is xD

[knifefightandchill]

RESIDENT EVIL 4 (2004)

Now, come to me, Ashley.

[cosmicpearlz]

sweet confessions

summary: in which jude feels the urge to confess his feelings for you before it’s too late.

pairing: jude bellingham x actress!reader

a/n: i haven’t written something in lord knows how long butttt i can’t stop thinking about being friends to lovers with jude. honestly, i can’t stop thinking about jude like what a man lol. anyways enjoy loves <3

it all started when you got a call from your agent about getting the role for a movie in madrid. you were over the moon about it. the movie was a classic love story about a woman falling in love with someone who also happened to be on vacation in spain and the hardships they face being that they are from two different countries. of course, it was very cheesy but it meant you got to work luca guadagnino. he had been one of your favorite directors and you’ve been itching to work with him. another big plus was that archie madekwe played your love interest. literally one of your best friends after working with him during a different project.

luca wanted all of the cast and crew to loosen up after the first two tables reads, so he took everyone to a real madrid match.

“archie, i’m not gonna lie to you but have you seen the players? specifically, number five,” you dramatically fanned yourself while taking your seat next to the boy.

“ew, keep it in your pants y/n. you’ve been talking about him since we’ve been in madrid and it’s only been three days. ‘oh archie he’s so cute’ ‘you think i’ll be able to talk to him?’,” he mocks you with a slight laugh. you playfully slapped his shoulder.

“i do not talk like that.”

“yes you do.”

“no i don’t.”

“shut up the match is starting,” you stick your tongue out at him because he refused to give you the last word.

your eyes were glued to the players that walked out. quickly spotting the golden boy that you developed a crush on in the matter of three days. jude bellingham stood with a smile adorned on his face. maybe it was the fact that you guys were the same age and you were a little delusional that something could spark between the two of you. even if it only meant being friends.

-

“whew, that was a really good game.”

“you’re only saying that because jude made the winning goal,” you pushed archie’s shoulder and pouted.

“you’re such a bully. that is not the reason and-“

“is he coming over here?”

your head snapped to where archie’s gaze was and yes. jude was making his way across the pitch to where you guys were seated. he gave you a warm smile before standing right in front of you.

“hi.”

“uh, hi?”

“i’m jude,” he held his hand out for you to shake with a cheeky smile. you smiled back and shook his hand. your hand fitting perfectly into his.

“i know who you are silly but i’m y/n.”

“i know who you are silly,” he repeats what you said with a teasing tone.

“i’ve never seen you before. well of course in movies but not here. are you here for work?”

it baffles you on how easy it was for him to make conversation. your eyes widened and looked to archie for help but to your disappointment he was gone. that british bastard.

“yeah! our director wanted us to enjoy a day out together before we start filming. plus, this is my first time in madrid actually,” jude smiles while maintaining eye contact with you.

“you need a tour guide? i got some of my favorite places i can show you.”

little did you know, it would be the start to a great friendship with the footballer.

-

“cut! we are done for the day. same time tomorrow, thank you everyone.”

you and archie shared a high five finishing a complex scene. it was the particular scene where your characters are arguing about the vacation almost ending. resulting to a passionate love confession with a hungry kiss.

“your boyfriend is here,” archie whispered into your ear making you push him away from you.

“shut up, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“yet.”

you choose to ignore your ignorant best friend. giving him a quick hug goodbye and rushing towards jude, who already has his arms open for you. you crash into him and he responds immediately by wrapping his arms around you.

it’s been five months since he offered to be your tour guide but he ended up being so much more. he became a staple piece in your life with such a short amount of time.

“hello darling.”

“hi jude. boy am i glad to see you, i’m so hungry. let’s get food,” you feel his chest vibrating from the laughter he gave out.

“oh wow, i come from training to see you and all you can think about is food? what am i? copped liver?”

“well duh, what else are you here for?” you pulled away slightly to look up at him, trying to give him your best straight face. it failed when he started tickling your side successfully causing you to laugh and slap his hands away.

“let’s feed the princess, shall we?”

jude never failed to send butterflies fluttering in your stomach. you wouldn’t dare ruin your friendship with him just because you gained a crush on him. it’s his fault though. all of the nicknames and gestures he does makes your head spin.

“we shall, but i have to stop by my trailer to put up my stuff,” you giggled and lead him to the trailers. jude immediately throws his self onto your bed laying down.

“man if this is what being an actor is like, i might have to try it.”

“you in acting? oh please, you have a better chance being in the production crew,” he gasped loudly while placing his hand on his chest.

“you are cruel. i can totally being an actor if i wanted to,” causing you to playfully scoff.

“yeah right and i can be a footballer.”

“now you’re taking the piss.”

you join him on the bed, choosing to lay on top of him being that his taller frame takes up the whole bed. it wasn’t unnatural for you two to end up in positions like this. it felt natural and certainly was comfortable. jude wraps an arm around your waist and you wrap yours around his neck.

the boy hoped you couldn’t feel the way his heartbeat sped up. unbeknownst to you, he fully reciprocated your feelings. sometimes it scared him how fast he fell for you. the whole reason he walked up to you in the first place is because he wanted an excuse to talk to the pretty girl that watched the football match.

“comfortable are we?”

“yes, you’re like a warm teddy bear.”

“i thought you were hungry.”

“it can wait.”

“y/n.”

“jude.”

jude felt you snuggle into him more and suddenly he felt the need to tell you his feelings. your warm body pressed against his and it still couldn’t stop the intense warmth that fluttered in his stomach, crawling all the way up to his chest. he grabs your waist firmly and sits the both of you up.

“hey, i was comfortable laying there,” you gave him a pout. all he think of was kissing the pout off your face. jude gazes at you with a small smile suddenly becoming shy.

“can i tell you something?”

“anything.”

“promise it won’t ruin our friendship? i dunno if i can deal with losing you completely.”

“stop being silly, you’ll never lose me jude,” you grabbed his hand and squeezed it, encouraging him to talk to you.

“i like you.”

“what?”

“i like you so much that it hurts to not call you my girlfriend. you’re like the sunshine that radiates through the widow early in the morning. you make me unbelievably happy with your presence. i know you’re going to leave soon but we could do long distance. i’d do it for you in a heartbeat if it-“

“jude relax,” you lay your hand on his face, softly rubbing his cheek.

“i like you too. so so much,” the once nervous boy quickly gained a growing smile.

“really?”

“oh god yes,” jude properly sits you into his lap, pressing your bodies closer together. you guys were practically nose to nose at this point. not that either of you minded .

“can i kiss you?” his whisper fell upon your lips.

“i’d be really mad if you didn’t.”

in a split second, his lips were on yours. a long awaited kiss. one of his hands held the back of your neck to try and push you closer if possible. passion flowing between the two of you as your tongues battle over dominance. you couldn’t stop your smile as you kissed him.

jude playfully nips at your bottom lip before placing two pecks to your lips and then pulling away. he didn’t go far as he rested his forehead on yours.

“fuck, i might be in love with you baby.”

before you could even reply, your stomach growled leading you to burst out into laughter. jude follows suit in laughter right behind you. he kisses the side of your head and stands up, holding a hand out for you. you smiled while sliding your hand into his. he intertwined your fingers with his and pulls you out from your spot.

“for the record, i might be in love with you as well,” you whispered with your spare hand raised to your lips as if you were telling him a secret only he can hear. jude kisses your forehead with a knowing smirk.

“who wouldn’t be in love with me.”

“see now you’re the one taking the piss.”

[mysteriawrites]

Hey can you write about Luxiem having a crush on the reader who is also a nijisanji vtuber? I just can imagine how cute that will be

Of course I can dear requester (requestee?). Here you go!

Luxiem with a Vtuber S/O

An: I had my own idea for a vtuber wave that I’m gonna use for this but feel free to use your imagination

You and your genmates are part of the royalty themed wave: REGALIA

Luca Kaneshiro

You were the bright and cheery royal of your wave. The stereotypical royal that brought a smile to everyone's face, was a friend to everyone, and shined bright like the sun just like our boss.

You and Luca are always goofing off during collabs. You guys usually play Minecraft and team up to prank the other members (and sometimes each other).

Luca also uses your collabs as an excuse to use his pickup lines on you so he can play them off as jokes as to not be embarrassed for being so cheesy.

You guys inevitably end up working on a cover together. Whether you work on the art, the animation, the mixing, or do vocals with him it ends up being a huge hit. Breaking 1 million views in less than 24 hours.

In group collabs you two proceed to be absolute menaces. No one is safe from your relentless trolling. Whether it's crab game, among us, Mario cart, or goose goose duck you'll have half of the branch in a fit of rage by the end. Truly a terrifying duo.

Shu Yamino

You were the mysterious royal of your wave. Your aura exuded power and beauty as well as danger.

You and Shu mainly play fighter games or fps games together. If you're good at these types of games then you make a formidable team that guarantees victory, but if not, Shu doesn't mind teaching you. He's just glad to have someone to share his favorite games with.

He also likes to play silly games with you like that bunny game. You guys are in perfect sync, and even when you're not you have so much fun laughing and talking that it doesn't matter if you beat the level or not.

I feel like you guys would have a Lego building handcam stream. No real reason it just seems right. You guys build the most intricate structure that it's honestly intimidating.

It's noticeable to everyone how much Shu loves streaming with you, because he laughs so much more. He's sillier goofier and more unhinged and having fun and the chat can feel the chemistry and positive energy a mile away.

Ike Eveland

You were the quiet, smart, and bookish royal. Always a book in hand with elegance and grace.

You and Ike partner up to play story games. If there is no in game voice acting, you two will take turns voicing different characters and putting on a whole performance for chat.

You guys also do covers together. If you don't feel confident about your singing ability, then Ike will coach you and help you build up your confidence. Man really wants to hear your voice.

You guys will also do watch a long streams of your favorite films or anime. Gushing about your favorite characters and scenes. He thinks it's it really cute when you're excited about your favorite character (and maybe just a little jealous).

At first Ike is more quiet and polite whenever you guys' stream together, but as time goes on, he becomes more mischievous and teasing. He won't admit it, but he thinks your reactions are cute (just like the rest of you) and it makes him want to tease you more.

Mysta Rias

You were the rowdy and rebellious royal. Always stirring up mischief and not letting anyone tell you what to do.

You are Mysta's emotional support when it comes to scary games. This can go one of two ways. Either you're good with horror games and you're actually helpful, or you're also bad with horror games and you're both screaming your heads off. At the end of the day though you both had fun either way (even if you can't sleep that night).

You're the voice of reason during cooking streams. Even if you're not a great cook you can't be bad as him. At the very least you manage to save yourselves from food poisoning.

You two also play silly co-op games like keep talking and nobody explodes. It's funnier when you both share a braincell and have to figure out how to work together to beat the game.

Mysta may not collab often, but you're his favorite person to collab with. You have plenty of misadventures in off collabs too.

Vox Akuma

You were the warrior royal. Always protecting others and standing up for what you believe in.

You and Vox would have cooking streams together. Whether you're good at cooking or absolute shit, you two will have fun goofing off in the kitchen and still make a meal that's at least edible.

You guys also have film discussion podcast like streams where you talk about the latest films. You discuss your thoughts and opinions about the film, but also deep things like symbolism and what the directors and actors were thinking.

You know how Vox is when it comes to Ike. Well, he's like that, but times 10 when it comes to you. Flirting with you at every chance and gushing about you every time you achieve something significant in your streaming career.

Sometimes his chat will make jokes about who he loves more you or Ike? He will answer cheekily "Why choose I have two hands~", but he always makes sure you know that he of course loves you more.

[theside-b]

What more can I say about this show? I’d previously compared the rhythm of First Note of Love with the likes of Unknown and The On1y One, but the more appropriate and direct comparison is with the underrated About Youth. From the music-driven plot, soft approach and wholly interesting characters, both shows have in common this trait of not dwelling into complex or difficult subjects, often choosing the lighter path guided by the romance.

The main difference between them comes in the cast. From all shows of the season, First Note of Love was the biggest target on my radar, the reason: Charles and Michael. Absolute fan-favorite and scene stealer from HIStory: Close to You, and the adorable prodigal son in My Tooth Your Love teaming up with now the focus square on them and joined by two other seasoned actors in Tim Liu and Jame Kasama. Taiwanese actors don’t sit in the same table with their neighbors, and while Charles and Michael are not bringing a bed to their fan meetings or sparking rumors of real-life dating, they really embraced the image of an adorable lovingly couple, going on cute dates and being cheesy (and overly romantic) with each other off-screen, meanwhile Tim and Jame have this very unique international connection with the two even scoring a side episode dedicated to them, and unlike other projects that feature international pairings this show explored and addressed head-on the linguistic barriers.

On the show, one of the biggest pitfalls was deftly avoided: Neil and Sea are on equal footing. Which was quite impressive of them to pull off, because not only they had the age gap between them but we start the series with Xiao Hai being Neil’s biggest fan, so from the get-go they were on uneven ground, but as the show progressed, we had two things happening at once: Xiao Hai realizing that Neil is much more than what and who he idolized and Neil himself becoming a fan (and falling head over heels for Sea). When we reach the midpoint is pretty clear that Xiao Hai has Neil’s heart, and not only that but Neil is also a fan of him, from Sea’s own music to his personality, they adore each other completely, flaws and all. And is actually a nice change of pace seeing a couple who is free to just fall in love without any unnecessary drama happening.

There isn’t a “bride”, or an ex-looking for a second chance, battle of classes, gangsters trying to ruin their lives, an overly dramatic break-up, circumstances that pull them apart, nothing like that at all happens here. Their biggest obstacle is actually themselves, they are so into each other that it becomes a problem, until it isn’t and the romance takes off beautifully. It’s like seeing one of the healthiest relationships unfold right in front of your eyes, a novelty really.

Next to them there is Reese and Orca in one of the most interesting dynamics seen in recent BL dramas. There is history here, but we are not allowed to witness, something did happen, something important and special to both of them. Orca left; Reese let him go. And then he is back, with no intention of leaving again empty-handed, if his going back to Thailand he is going to make sure he has Reese’s heart with him.

Orca joins a very fun trend of the class of’24: the “I have feelings and I going to make them your problem too!” archetype. Invading Reese’s house (which is debatable since he knew the door code), cooking him delicious meals, serenating his paramour, making Reese a hostage at his own home by taking long and luxurious showers and prowling the apartment naked, Orca didn’t let that man breathe for one second. It didn’t hurt them that their first interaction was Orca literally throwing himself at Reese and we along with him finding out that the Taiwanese learned thai just so they could talk — they confessing their love in each other’s mother language was such a sweet touch.

Much like the main couple there was plenty of openings for some juicy drama here (their first kiss happens at a funeral for crying out loud) but the show again choses the lighter route, from Orca hijinks, to Reese’s obvious crush and the cute MosBank cameos (we need a spin-off showing what kind of beef they have with Orca), the only thing stopping them is themselves, Reese actually says that.

That all might seem silly or uneventful, but is refreshing seeing grown-ups acting like grow-ups. Is not a show with wild storylines or bombastic turning points and sudden revelations. They are telling the stories of two couples that simply like each other and want to be together. It’s about them working around their own issues to be good for one another. It’s the reason why, unlike other Taiwanese shows, I firmly believe they are perfect for a stress-free binge watch.

The one major downside is the run-time, from episode one to the finale, it always feels like something good was left off the table due time constraint. The lack of Reese and Orca in the final episode felt criminal (they have a special episode focused on them in Thailand by the way, but is mostly a cute little thing starring Tim and Jame). The episodes clock around the 22/24-minute mark, and that leads me to believe that First Note of Love might have been conceived as a movie that got turned into a series later on, it’s probably the one series that I can clearly see how they would adapt into a feature film with ease.

As I said, there are subtle hints of very dark subjects lurking within the characters. Xiao Hai for example, we see that he grew up all alone, abandoned really, and there is a tense moment his mother reaches out to him, and he avoids her wanting nothing to with her or his family, later he states to Neil that thanks to his love he doesn’t feel alone anymore — the implications are there, but you have to be able to catch them and read as you see fit, the show never makes them all that clear, they could’ve explored more but they chose not to, maybe if they had more time they could have.

I also need to point it out: it’s the best (no question or room for debate) musical BL. All the songs were very good, and you can see they went all out to get them right, the lyrics always reflecting what we were dealing with in the episodes. Charles already had two tracks from HIStory under his belt, and Michael and Jame got training from professional musicians and instructors in how to perform in front of the cameras. This dedication led to some amazing moments and the most believable on-screen musicians in the genre. It also never felt like a full-on musical, but as if we were indeed watching professional stage performances. (Warner Music Taiwan was responsible for the soundtrack and having actual artists like Taiyo [who plays Matt] and Ben Wu providing them songs was a great call).

Another strong asset in the show was the location. The first major TW-BL drama not situated in Taipei, the port city of Kaohsiung served as this near-futuristic backdrop with stylish architecture and romantic scenery — the city is actually Taiwan’s new capital of music with labels HQs and musical festivals, that’s why the show takes place there, and it was refreshing seeing them in a location not all-that explored.

I cannot advocate for this show enough, so is a must-see recommendation from me.

[mrs-gauche]

Vows & Vengeance Episode 1

ALRIGHT GUYS! As always, I'm super late to the party (although for once, I actually have a good reason, which is that I'm currently kinda in the middle of renovating my place lol), and while I first listened to the episode on Thursday, I just wanted to let it sink in a bit and listen to it again a few times, to really appreciate all the details. :D So here are a trillion few notes on the first episode (spoiler, I loved it! <3333) and I hope this doesn't sound too jumbled, I haven't had a lot of sleep lately. 😂😂💀💀

- Ok, so my first reaction to the ending was basically: "OH MY GOD NOTHING CAN EVER GO RIGHT", "DAMN THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY" and sobbing for Elio, I guess. lol

- My general thoughts: I loved it!! ❤️❤️❤️ I felt like it was gripping and immersive from the beginning, but also genuinely funny and moving at times! I think this first episode did a good job of setting up the plot, the pacing was good and I'm already invested in the new characters! The sound design and voice acting was top notch (albeit maybe a bit over the top and a little cheesy in a couple of scenes lol) and I absolutely LOVED the little nuggets of the Veilguard soundtrack we got throughout (Zimmer and Balfe confirmed!!). There are a few tiny nitpicks, but overall this was fantastic and correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never heard of a game being marketed with an audio drama before? 😂 But looking at Dragon Age's amazing voice cast (and the fact that they all made us develop a voice kink lmao), this makes so much sense and I need like a hundred more of these in the future. lol

Notes on the episode itself:

- The narrator reminds me so much of the ones in these old anime dubs. I was expecting him to be like "LAST TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z". He got lost in the wrong dragon franchise. lol Really cool voice though!

- I LOOVE how it starts off with a minute of just the ambient sounds, chatters and music of the tavern, to really get that immersion, as if you just walked into this place yourself. - That new rendition of "Oh Grey Warden" hit me in the feels ngl.. ;-;

- Nadia just walking it and poisoning Olen to get answers was such a badass introduction to our main character! - I like how the narrative is neatly tied together by making this a retelling of what happened, starting off with loads of questions and by the end we're back in the present again.

- Nadia and Elio are so sweet nawww <3333 - Those sounds of Elio waking Nadia up were straight up ASMR. lol - The tune that's playing in the back here is sooo nice, I wonder if it's part of the new Love theme or something. 🥹❤️

- A sort of forbidden love between Liberati and Altus, oh this better end f*cking well!! 💀💀💀 - Well, that birthday got cancelled REAL fast. lol - I get Nadia's outbreak, but DAMN, she went OFF on him from like 0 to 100 in a heartbeat. lmao I guess something was bottling up for quite some time. - "I'm sorry" Oh no. I notice a certain pattern. *sob* - Again, that track that's playing here, wooow. Goosebumps! It's a super tragic rendition of the main theme. I just know this one's gonna hit so hard whenever that plays in Veilguard. 😭

- I wonder if the docks here are the same we've seen in screenshots. :3 - The soundtrack that's playing here reminds me SO MUCH of Unravel (one of my favorite tracks in recent years! <3333) - I like Nadia and Vik's dynamic. Super authentic. :D

- Nadia's reaction to the gold and then "TRIPLE the bag for delivery??" Yeah, Solas truly is the richest apostate hobo in all of Thedas. Those vaults from Trespasser come in handy now. Good thing the currency of old Elvhenan is apparently still valid. lol - Solas' quest of collecting every ancient powerful artifact continues. - Isn't this like the second time now that Solas indirectly hired someone to break into the Archives? lol They really need to improve that security. (Watch there being a quest in Veilguard where you have to break in there again, but it's impossible due to the amounts of guards now and Solas is like "Yeah, that might be my fault, sorry." lol)

- Super random thought, but judging by the sound design, there's gotta be lots of chickens running around in the streets of Minrathous. lol - NEVE!! <3333 (I'm sorry to anyone who had the wildest conspiracy theories about that teaser image and was expecting someone else. lmao) - So, wait. Does that mean Solas also anticipated Neve to talk to Elio? Or maybe someone else was supposed to do that but Neve got there first? lol

- Nadia and Vik have got to be the noisiest thieves I've ever heard. LMAO HOW did you manage to steal anything until now?? 💀💀💀 - I love how you keep hearing Vik laughing in the distance while distracting the guards. lol

- I wonder if all the turmoil could have been avoided if they just informed Elio about his ancestor's connection to the Eye and the Venatori from the get go. I guess he needed that push of knowing to never be able to return to his life in Tevinter to go along with it, but.. *sigh* poor Elio. - "I trust you." UHGGHH We were on the right track there. 😭😭 - That music AGAIN?? Chilllls!! - Nadia just casually destroying hundreds of years worth of relics. Love it. lol - "FLAME BLAST!!" Oh, this is so anime. lmaoo - Elio going from "WE'RE NOT DOING THIS" to fully enjoying beating up templars and go full criminal in a matter of seconds as soon as he sees his girl in her element. He loves her so much. <33

- "Who's the hat?" lol - That groan after the Dread Wolf name drop? Yeah, that was actually me. lmao - So, I assume this also ties in with Neve already knowing about Solas and his shenanigans in Minrathous when she met Varric in The Missing. Maybe it was this very incident that Neve was talking about? - Noooo, Vik!! 😭😭 (I knew you for like five minutes, but you made in impact. lol) - Sooo... I take it these "assassins" were actually Venatori, since they were the ones going after the Eye in the first place? Or am I stupid now? - "The eye went boom!" Love that delivery. lol - "She's trying to freeze the bay!" Yeah, Neve just DID that. What a boss. - "An elf with a fancy tongue." Oh, I know who THAT is. lmao

- "Me and you." 😭😭😭😭 You two are killing me. - That motif AGAIN. 😭😭😭😭😭 - Oh, for fuck's SAKE. Solas really always has the best flippin timing. They're all sweet and loving and here goes our disaster man "I'm about to ruin this couple's day so good." 💀💀💀 It's her BIRTHDAY, dammit!! - "Ominous looking chap in the road" lmao All I could think of there was THIS (for anyone who gets the reference LMAO)

- How is it that I knew he would appear in this episode from the teaser, and yet I still freaked out so hard. lmaoo After such a long time, it's like any second of new Solas content makes my heart skip a beat (or several). 😭😭 I still can't believe we're getting all this. 🥹

- Look, I may be a Solasmancer and have my biases, but godDAMN.. GDL is so good. HE IS SO GOOD. That Welsh accent. That rolling lilt. A voice like velvet that can be both so smooth and so sharp. There is just something about his performance that has you on the edge of your seat every time he's talking and I looove these little moments when you can so clearly hear that cheeky little smile in his voice. 💜

And it's so nice to hear him talk so calmly (well, at first at least lol) and kinda playful again, opposed to how super anxious he sounds at the beginning of Veilguard. 🥺 It's kinda interesting to compare this performance with DAI now, because now he's fully embracing the Dread Wolf role, and I keep thinking this is him after being isolated for the past ten years. ;-;

- Anway, so Nadia "unknowingly employed by the Dread Wolf" gets her pay from Richie Rich and girl, that would've been the moment to LEAVE. *sob* - "What other choice do we have?" Well, I dunno, RUN?? lmao - *chuckles* "I will demonstrate." Alright, I'm dead. Why did you say it like THAT? T_____T - Hearing Solas talk in elven after so long.. Dead again. Overkill. And yes, he's saying the exact same thing he said to Sera once. No, we don't know what it means. lol Maybe Sera IS actually an ancient magical artifact and he tried to trigger.. something. lol - That whole flippin dialogue. Solas please stop talking like an old witch trying to lure her prey into her lair. 💀 - "I do not play games." *screaming* - Honestly, I was like "NOOO WHY would you GO with himmm" but then I remembered, SHIT I WOULD FOLLOW HIM ANYWHERE. Hell, I *HAVE* followed him anywhere. To Hell and back. 💀💀💀💀💀 - Solas' persuasion game is at maximum at all times.

- "Energy is neither dark nor light." Speak for yourself, Trickster God of In Between. - "It is the Fade. The Veil is fragile here."

- Solas finally gets to answer questions again, but Nadia is rude about it. 😂 Solas slightly approves AND disapproves. lol - "Kindly remove your blade from my neck."

- Those damn Venatori at it AGAIN with their hunt for magical McGuffins. After TN and the Missing, I'm starting to believe that is all Solas did in the last ten years, snatching one deadly toy out of the their hands after another. lmao - "And it is up to me to ensure we arrive at the best possible outcome." Oh, we're so doomed. - "You're sharper than you let on." Here we go again with the backhanded compliments. lol Ohhh, how I missed it.

"Some people confuse a reckoning as an ending." "I seek... regeneration."

Holy shit. The voice. The long pause. The delivery of that last line. Shivers down my spine. It feels eerie. Like he sounds.. desperate.. and maybe a little.. insane? lmao (That's how you start to talk if you've been separated from your soulmate for ten years 💔💔💔)

Ok look, I've seen a TON of people thinking that, because of the way he says this and him using the word "reckoning" ("For a reckoning that will shake the very heavens"), this HAS to be whatever part he took of Mythal speaking now that has taken over his mind or something. But.. I don't think so? lol

I honestly think this is just Solas who, after a thousand years of preparing to "heal" the world again that he broke, even after admitting to himself that this world and its people are in fact real and he has to destroy it, is SO close to getting there now and there's NO ONE who could possibly understand him or how he truly feels or what any of this or the Blights/Titans/spirits/gods/Veil even truly ARE, so no WONDER he sounds a little f*cking unhinged. 💀💀💀

The choice of words is very interesting though.. "Regeneration" is not something he has ever used, BUT it immediately made me think of the line "But still, some hope remains for restoration" in Trespasser. This is what google tells me:

Regeneration represents a form of upgrade from restoration. If restoration means “to make something well again,” regeneration, for some authors, means “to make it better” than a (supposed) origin condition.

Regeneration: "a renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part, or biological system (such as a forest) after injury or as a normal process/ or a spiritual renewal or revival"

You know.. if I read "restoration of a bodily part or biological system", you know what's the first thing that comes to my mind yet AGAIN.

Look, that Titan's body is SPLIT IN HALF and we know that this was kinda the catalyst for everything Solas did back then, so... I'll just leave that here and listen to rest of the episode now. lmaoo

- "And the eye will make us fix that?" "More or less." dksdjjgdkfvlf THE SMILE IN HIS VOICE. What does that even MEAN? What do you MEEEAN, SIR?? I would've RUN out of that cave SO flippin FAST. - "And you're sure this is safe?" "As safe as we make it." *literally two minutes later* "SOLAS, SOMETHING IS WROOONG!!" This is a goddamn comedy show. lmaoo - "Silence, please." lol at him still being polite. - "This is all to be expected!" *five seconds later* "WE MUST FLEE!" I BUST out laughing. WHY are you such a DISASTER. Nothing EVER goes right and yet you always keep trying, you fool, omg!! - I don't think we have ever heard Solas so distressed. lol Like, not even when Wisdom died or at the beginning of Veilguard. - "Take my hand!" I would've never thought to hear THAT Trespasser line repeated under those circumstances, but here we are. lmaooo - We know Solas is a hopeless romantic, so for him to see that sweet couple torn apart because of him, and him still trying to save Nadia, I'm not ok. - Solas being responsible for Elio getting banished to the Fade and him being trapped there not long after.. Do you believe in karma? 😂 - "I'M SORRY!" WHY DOES IT ALWAYS END WITH HIM SAYING THAT. 😭

- So.. uh... what even WAS the plan, exactly? lol Like, what was supposed to happen?? Maybe they should've asked a few more questions after all. 💀 - That following scene with Nadia all alone. I got chills again. That hit different. ;-;

- "Where can I find this wolf??" Oh, she is about to hunt him down. 😶 "...I'll be back." Nadia in full Terminator mode now. 😂 - How are she and Elio connected now though? How can she hear him? 🥺 And I can't help but think about whoever was left in the Fade in DAI again, too. 😭😭😭 - Not the credits making me almost sob AGAIN because of the music. 😭 It is so so good.

So there we are. Everything went wrong, a couple is doomed and Solas is sorry. So, nothing changed. LMAO Everything as usual. 💀💀💀 Solas, I swear, if you don't get these two back together again and pay Lavellan a visit afterwards, my Rook might rethink listening to your advice in Veilguard. lmao

I can't wait for that next episode! This was so much fun and an amazing start, and I'm so excited to hear all the other companions! :D ❤️❤️❤️

[olis-inkwell-symposium]

Unapologetically Messy: The Process Behind a Creative Mind

Some words of encourage I had to write out during my lunch break at work today; for my fellow writers 🫶🏾

Let’s not pretend that writing is some serene, candle-lit experience where the words just flow effortlessly. It’s not. Writing is messy.

Frustrating at the very best times. To continue with more: chaotic, it’s unpredictable, and if we’re being honest, mine is mostly fueled by insomnia and last-minute panic.

Forget the cheesy Instagram-worthy images of perfect notebooks and tranquil mornings with a laptop by the window—that’s the fantasy.

The reality is far more complex and unapologetically messy.

Creativity Doesn’t Follow Rules

We like to think there’s a formula for creativity. Sit down at a certain time, write for a certain number of hours, and voilà, you’ve got yourself a novel. But creativity doesn’t follow rules, and it definitely doesn’t give a damn about your carefully planned schedule.

One of the most freeing realizations for any creative is understanding that the process isn’t supposed to be linear. It’s not a straight path from point A to point B. It’s more like a series of tangled threads, with detours, dead ends, and plenty of wrong turns. And that’s okay. In fact, that’s where the real magic happens.

The best ideas often come when you least expect them—during a 3 a.m. insomnia-fueled brainstorming session, or while you’re out doing something completely unrelated to writing.

You can’t force creativity into a neat little box. It’s messy by nature, and the more you lean into that, the more you’ll realize that the chaos is part of what makes it all work.

The Ugly Side of Writing

Let’s talk about the ugly parts of writing that no one likes to admit. The moments when you reread your draft and wonder who the hell wrote it because it sure doesn’t sound like the brilliant idea you had in your head.

Or the days when you spend hours editing a single paragraph, only to decide it’s still not good enough. Writing is hard—and sometimes it feels downright impossible…

But those ugly moments? They’re part of the process. No writer escapes them.

We all have drafts that make us cringe, scenes that feel flat, or characters who refuse to behave the way we envisioned them. The key is to keep going, even when it feels like everything is falling apart.

You don’t get to the good stuff without wading through the muck first. The messy, imperfect draft is the foundation on which you’ll build something better.

So, embrace it. Embrace the chaos, the frustration, and the uncertainty, because that’s what writing is really about—working through the mess to find the magic on the other side.

The Pressure of Perfectionism

Perfectionism is my unique creativity killer. It’s that voice in your head that says, “This isn’t good enough,” or “You’ll never get this right.” My personal favorite that I repeat to myself all the time, “Who’s gonna even care enough to read all of this?”

It’s the reason so many writers stare at the blank page for hours, paralyzed by the fear of writing something that isn’t perfect. One of the things that sabotages me to this day, I’d rather write these words of encouragement vs. tackling my wips… But here’s the truth: your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It will never be perfect! I had to learn to just let my ideas pour out of me in whatever fashion necessary.

Taking a break and coming back to read it over again it’s easier for me to refine and organize my ideas into one cohesive plot.

The whole point of a first draft is to get the ideas down, to lay the groundwork. It’s going to be messy. It’s going to have plot holes, awkward sentences, and scenes that don’t quite work. That’s normal. That’s what a first draft is supposed to be.

The real work happens in the revision process, when you can take that messy draft and start shaping it into something better. But you can’t revise a blank page. You have to be willing to let yourself write badly, to make mistakes, and to trust that the process will lead you to where you need to go.

Finding Your Flow in the Chaos

For a lot of writers, for me personally anyway, there’s this constant push and pull between wanting structure and needing freedom.

We want the discipline to sit down and write every day, but we also crave the space to let our ideas flow naturally. Finding a balance between the two is tricky, and honestly, it’s different for everyone.

Some days, structure is what saves you. You sit down at the same time, with the same routine, and it works.

Other days, you need to follow the chaos, write when the mood strikes, and let the process be as unpredictable as it wants to be. Neither way is wrong—it’s about finding what works for you in the moment.

The key is to let go of the pressure to have it all figured out. Your process doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. It doesn’t even have to look the same every day. What matters is that you keep showing up, keep writing, and keep trusting that the mess is part of the journey.

Embrace the Mess

So, here’s the takeaway: the creative process is messy. It’s full of ups and downs, false starts, and moments of self-doubt. But it’s also full of discovery, unexpected breakthroughs, and moments of pure magic.

The mess isn’t something to be ashamed of—it’s something to embrace.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to follow a strict routine, or write neatly within the lines.

Let the process be what it is—unpredictable, chaotic, and unapologetically messy. Because that’s where the real creativity lives.

oli’s symposium taglist 🫵🏾 you know you wanna join. let me know!

@slenders1ckn3ss @lucistarsfire @mai2themai @fond-illusion @p00lverinecentral

[deadite-central]

Crazy to think I’ve finally reached the last post for Dressrosa, this arc is so long but if you couldn’t tell by now, I love it a lot. Anyway, my favorite fight in One Piece has finally started, and like I said the last time, Luffy vs Doflamingo is phenomenal

First of all; THE REVEAL OF GEAR 4. The last time we were introduced to a new gear has been in ENNIES LOBBY, so finally seeing another one, after we went through so much in Dressrosa, it’s just so good. Gear 4:Bounceman is amazing in both how it looks and how it works, somehow balancing being incredibly goofy and genuinely cool which props to Oda for that. I also really like how due to it’s silliness Doflamingo dismisses it at first, even laughs at it, just to get absolutely decked and flown from the Palace to the streets of the country. Once Luffy pulls this out, even with Doflamingo awakening his devil fruit, the fight is clearly turning into Luffy’s favour!

Unfortunately, just like with every Gear before this, there are consequences to using such a power up, so Luffy goes into ‘not-able-to-do-anything’ mode, promising he will be able to take down Doflamingo in a single punch once he regains his energy. While in the anime it felt like just another way to drag Dressrosa out, during my read I realized that this was actually kinda needed? Not only to set a clear boundary on Luffy’s new power, but also for more character work to the side characters. The people of Dressrosa start seeing Luffy as the person to save them. Like Fujitora will say later, Luffy has an ability to make people believe in him, and that scene where they all chase the Straw Hats so Fujitora won’t be able to throw rubble on them would not work as well if it wasn’t for everyone putting their faith in Luffy here. They cheer him on, he’s their hero, their hope, and they will stand behind him

On the topic of side characters of the arc: Viola. She had already been set up as a kind soul forced to work for the Donquixote Family to keep her country safe. Now that there’s someone else who’s ready to set his life on the line to save her country, she believes in him, and buys him the time he needs by, once again, putting her life on the line, but this time, facing against the man who ruined her life. She went through so much just to protect her people. And when Rebecca, a girl with just as big of a heart as her aunt is put into the scene, the fact that Doflamingo uses that to probably give Viola the most gut wrenching death he could think of, one that’s going to traumatise Rebecca forever, I’m honestly ready to turn away and not look at the tragedy in front of me

Thankfully, Luffy is back in action. And while the fight itself is great and creative, the real reason Luffy vs Doflamingo is my favorite fight in the series is this. Doflamingo stands for everything Luffy despises, he’s a manipulator, one that takes away the freedom of others both figuratively and literally. Luffy defeating Doflamingo while screaming in his face how the way he goes about everything suffocates him, as Doflamingo is screaming back how he’s above humans, how he’s better, and how Luffy can’t defeat him is striking, and when Luffy finally lands that final (incredibly satisfying) punch, Doflamingo goes flying under the floor, defeated, with his glasses shattering. Just a second ago he was shouting about being on top of the world, just for that to shatter with them. It’s so fucking good

As one last big thing, I really like how the themes of family are used throughout Dressrosa, and a lot of the resolutions for characters in here include a familial theme. I know a lot of people think it’s incredibly cheesy that Sabo was a secret third brother with amnesia, but like I said before, I do really like that Luffy has a brother that looks out for him, and the flashback panels of Sabo’s memories coming back, at the worst time possible probably, are some really well. I also really like how the resolution of Law’s arc here, who has been striving for revenge the entire saga, is finally talking to Sengoku, who makes him realise that Cora simply cared for him, and wanted him to live his life the way he wanted. It’s a theme that has been touched upon before, but this scene always catches me by the heart

And to FINALLY finish Dressrosa off, while I still despise the Colosseum, I do love the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Not only cause it once again shows how Luffy inspires people, but also that they decide “yeah we’re doing this you can’t do anything about it man” I love them and their following cover story is great

[rachelsnotebook]

Wishes wrapped in Red String

Intertwine by Crescence Studio

Two souls, and an eternity to endlessly intersect. Intertwine lovingly takes the player's hand and leads them through glimpses of these souls' many lives.

You'd be hard pressed to find another game that feels uniquely special from the second the title screen pops up! It wasn't long before I felt a strong wave of emotion wash over, as noted during my first playthrough:

And it was gentle. Van and the player character's stories were worth every minute I spent playing (and replaying, and replaying...). How could anyone not latch onto that hope of finding your soulmate?

Intertwine is broken up into four short sections. Each one gives the player a satisfying taste, but it will leave you feeling greedy for so much more!

I love this game exactly how it exists, but I'd be lying if I didn't selfishly wish there were several more tales. For now, I'll just happily leave things to my wild imagination.

Reasons to Love:

- The writing reads like your new favorite book. The stories you'll find are charming, hopeful, laugh out loud funny, and romantic.

- Van might be my soulmate trapped in a visual novel for this lifetime...

I swiftly fell for his charm, and felt like a clown when the game called me out on my own cheesiness.

- I can't praise the voice acting enough! The subtle differences to each lifetime's Van was always filled with personality. The performance brought him to life and transformed these stories into very real feeling conversations.

- The replay loop mechanic was exciting. Each time back at the title screen felt like a treat. Where would Van and the playable character meet next?

- I adored the visual design of Intertwine's title screen from the start. As I learned the flow of the game it became clear that it also held a fun secret. That mechanic was delightful and unexpected. And also incredibly fun!

- As Van once said... "Fuck, this is embarrassing."

So, I think every CG scene got a surprised gasp out of me. The artwork is so lovely to stare at. There wasn't a single moment where I wasn't impressed!

- I know I already pointed out how special the writing is, but I need to throw extra confetti praise over the banter. This is probably my personal favorite aspect of Intertwine. The banter is so well done!

There's a lifetime where the player and Van are coworkers who hate each other, and then briefly worm their way into each other's hearts. I adored this change, and the chance at being a bit mean. There's something thrilling about a love that bloomed from a seed planted in frustration.

I would share some of my favorite lines from that lifetime, but I'm afraid that I would end up with 80% of that section posted here. I took so many screenshots.

~~~

Intertwine came out swinging and hit a home run. Now I could be biased as a hopeless romantic, but this is my blog. It's safe to say that Intertwine leaves a lasting impression and going straight onto my Best Games of 2023 list!

This piece was originally posted on July 19th, 2023 at rachelsnotebook.wixsite.com

[marksbear]

Randomly thought pf this. But Aaron x his framed boyfriend (reader). His boyfriend is a simple bartender but after some murders that pointed towards his direction (all the victims being those who had hurt reader in the past. Old high school bullies, homophobic ex coworkers, strangers who made snide remarks to him in public)

You can choose if the real unsub is found or if Reader is successfully framed UwU (ooooh maybe the unsub could be Haily haha. Some jealousy of Reader stealing her man)

AHH good idea my friend! I haven't written something like this in a while so I am happy to write this! @real-levyanno hope you enjoy!

AARON HOTCHNER X FRAMED MALE READER

"Fuck me." Y/n cups his face in his hands sighing.

This is one of the places Y/n doesn't wanna be in. Hand cuffed and being interrogated by your own boyfriend and his co-workers.

Before all of this you were having a great day. It wasn't a slow day at the bar but it wasn't busy. It was just how you liked it. Everything was going perfect. No creeps were showing up, drunks who had gotten kicked out from a different bar and showed up here. Just some of your favorite regulars and a few new people.

Your favorite co-worker Liam was here too. Both of you cracking jokes and just goofing around with each other. Your boss was here to Kate and even she was chill and in a happy mood joining the fun from time to time.

Some new guy even showed up yelling to everyone drinks on him. Wow everything was just great.

Until police sirens and yelling came from outside. They all barge in at once aiming their guns at you while you clean a glass. "What the fuck----" "HANDS IN THE AIR FBI!" Derek shouts at you look you were a total stranger. "Guys cmon what is this?!" Y/n puts his hands in the air putting the glass down.

immediately cops circle around him arresting him dragging him outside. Loads of people are outside screaming at him and people takes pictures and videos of him. To top it all off there are interviewers trying to ask him questions and their cameras everywhere recording every single moment.

TIMESKIP IN THE INTERROGATION ROOM.

The whole team is in the room all quiet barely moving standing all around the room while Hotch is sitting across from Y/n. Y/n looks around confused as fuck as to why hes cuffed and why is he here.

"I can sit here and be quiet all day. Until one of you tells me why the hell i'm here." Y/n asks everyone in the room with his voice serious.

"Y/n we know it was you. We know you did it" J.J finally says something after a long break of silence after Y/n first question.

"What the hell are you talking about J.J?!" Y/n says with confusion on his face. "We know you killed those people Y/n." Reid says opening a file takes the photos of the victims placing them on the table for Y/n to see.

Y/n hearts drop once he realizes who they are. "That's Blake Jackson with his goons or his best friends really." Y/n suggests to photo where all of the boys are on the floor dead next to each other. "And that's Randy and Faith. My ex-coworkers. What the hell even my ex's and that one cheesy couple in highschool..."

"Y/n. What did all those people have in common?" Gideon questions crossing his arms.

"That they all hated me... Every single one of them hurt me in the past. All was homophobic even my ex's who dared me as a prank or a dare. They all hurt me" Y/n says remembering everything they done to him in the past closing his eyes.

"So that was your motive then huh?" Y/n eyes shoot straight open in shock and the same time betrayed. "What!? I could never do something like this!" Y/n shouts.

"I don't know Y/n. They made your life hell. And your story gives you a reason to give them the same hell they gave you." Morgan says shaking his head disappointed at Y/n.

"I-I can't believe y'all. Aaron say something! Tell them it wasn't me!" Y/n begs his boyfriend tears threatening to fall out. "We have your fingerprints on the murder weapon Y/n. We found your DNA in the crime scene Y/n." Aaron tells his boyfriend his heart aching once he sees his boyfriend teared up eyes.

"Aaron...y---you gotta believe me. I could never do something like that Aaron please. WHY! would you believe I would do something like that! You're supposed to trust me! Isn't this how this damn relationship is supposed to work!?!"

Y/n can't hold back his tears anymore. They fall onto the table and his lap as he cries softly. He wants nothing to just let this day be a dream. A nightmare or something.

Without anymore words the BAU leaves the room since their job here is done.

TIMESKIP

Y/n went to court weeks later after the interrogation. The whole team shows up in court to watch Y/n. Hotch stares at Y/n empty eyes that were once filled with hope. Y/n looks like hes been crying for days and neglecting himself from food and water only taking showers.

Once Y/n was found guilty he didn't cry. Its not like he didn't want to it was just nothing came out of his eyes. Y/n sees the team in the back of the court house. He locks eyes with Aaron before turning his eyes around to Liam giving him a smile.

As Y/n gets shown out not making an effort to fight back from the cops as they take him out. Haley comes up slowly from the way back of court and wraps her around Aaron comforting him with an evil smile on her face.

ANOTHER EPIC TIMESKIP

Years later!

Y/n was finally released early after years of investigation by his bestfriend Liam who didn't give up on him and proved to everyone that Y/n was innocent and Haley was the one who did the murders and framed Y/n.

Once the team found out about everything they immediately told Hotch about everything and all went to the prison where Y/n was held while waiting for him to be released.

Of course Hotch was a nervous wreck the whole team was. They all felt too bad and carried so much guilt about sending him to prison not even hearing him out. And not even sparing him a single visit only Penelope sends him monthly gifts.

Everyone freezes once they see Y/n step out wearing a wife beater with some sweatpants carrying a bag looking around. He looked way different he had scars on his arms some on his shoulders and he got a haircut even some tattoos on his arms and wrist.

Liam pushes past the team running to his friend full speed tackling him to a hug. The two laugh and scream rolling around finally at peace. "You bastard I love you Liam!" Y/n shouts at his best friend.

Those words made Hotch's heart ache. He never heard Y/n say those words to anyone besides him but once he heard him for the first time right now they hurt like hell.

As they get up Y/n sees the team and freezes. All the sudden Y/n begins to remember how much he cried and screamed in the interrogation room. His pleas and begs for someone to just believe him. Someone who can just listen.

Your heart swells when you lock eyes with Aaron. Liam visited you every week and told you what was going on with Aaron and Haley. After you went to jail they got back with each other fairly fast. From Liam's stories they sounded to be in a committed relationship and you were just some summer fling.

You take Liam by his hand telling him lets go, but gets stopped by Aaron getting in your way his arm out waiting for your hand to shake it. "Hi nice to meet you i'm Aaron Hotchner and you are?"

You feel yourself about to cry and smile at the same time. Aaron and you always do that every time the two of you argue and get in a fight. It's a way to start over only you and him can understand. You hated how weak you are for this man who made you lose yourself. You took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"My name is Y/n L/n. Nice to meet you Aaron."

THE END

I may probably make another ending when the reader is the unsub or the reader doesn't take Hotch back! Hope you enjoyed and let me know if I should do it!

[trungles]

Regarding your winter romcoms: just wanted to say you have truly IMPECCABLE taste in films (which is to say that we have the *same* movie taste), and it makes me love you/your art all the more. Any other suggestions? Ultimte favorite films? Do share!

HELLO, it has been a hot dang minute since I did one of these, and I'm pretty sure this question was dropped into my inbox closer to Christmas of 2022. So. Thank you very much for your kind words, anonymous, and apologies for the very long delay!

This is a fun question, though, so I really wanted to answer it eventually. Forgive the typos, grab your popcorn and your Red Vines (the best licorice-ish candy, I WILL FIGHT YOU no I won't but I love them), and let's go through my favorite comfort-watch movies. They're mostly rom-coms and coming-of-age movies for teens.

As a general caveat, I am not a big movie person at all. I know basically nothing about film. You will find no sensitive critique or analysis here. My favorite movies are all VIBES. I'm also not a big horror/thriller/bloody violence sort of person, so I don't watch many of those, which is weird because a goodly number of my dearest friends are horror film buffs. Also, I have made it a habit, in my adulthood, to go watch movies that I wasn't allowed to watch or didn't have access to as a kid. I'm a first-and-a-half generation immigrant to the United States, so my way of getting comfortable with American culture was to sort of approximate its vibes by absorbing its popular culture almost anthropologically? So in this post I'll maybe go over why I like it, and I might mention some of the things that have not aged super well because, as I'm sure you know, every single thing ever made cannot help being a product of the time it was made. I believe in being able to watch these things critically, enjoying them as they are, understanding that everybody's mileage may vary, and that not everything I like will be for everyone. I'm mostly including this bit because it's internet and people don't always know how to simply disengage with things they don't like.

In my Winter Movie post, I recommended The Holiday, When Harry Met Sally, Single All the Way, Moonstruck, and While You Were Sleeping, so I won't go over those again. Let's kick this off with something to help manage everybody's expectations.

The McG-directed Charlie's Angels movies, 2000 and 2003. Both of them.

I actually saw the second one first. It was one of the first PG-13 movies I ever saw in theatres, and it sort of just imprinted in my psyche, I think? They're just fun. They're real fuckin' fun. Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore have great onscreen chemistry, and the cheesy wire-fu sequences are so ham-fisted that they delight me. These movies know exactly what they are, and they're very up-front about being Movies, particularly the second one where every scene seems to have an Old Hollywood pastiche. The first one has a bit of very odd brownface moments that I did not love upon rewatch.

Singin' in the Rain, 1952

I saw this movie for the first time when I was in middle school, and I was absolutely obsessed. It was the very first time I realized that the movies had its own histories, and that there was a transition of culture when there was a change in technology. Also, I just loved watching Gene Kelly dance, for gay reasons. Plus, Rita Moreno is in it for a split second, and she's divine.

Clueless, 1995

This movie rules, I don't know what else to say. It's a fantastic Austen adaptation, and while I was too young to catch this in the 90s, it felt great catching up with this one as an adult. I think it also helped me contextualize what other kids were into in the 90s, so I retroactively feel less isolated from my peers. It's a weird sort of magic. It's also strange to me, in hindsight, that in 1995 there was an enormous hit teen movie where there is a gay character who is treated incredibly lovingly for the time? Like, no gay trauma, no homophobic bullying, no nothing. He's just there, and he gets folded into the rest of the story and remains important to the main character's life? I'd have loved that as a kid.

Shanghai Noon, 2000

The year 2000 was an incredible time for goofy action comedies, and this one was formative for me. It's extremely silly and embarrassing to admit, but this movie was the first time I learned about how Chinese railroad workers built the transcontinental railroads in the later 1800s. I first saw it as a rental from the local video store, and my parents let me watch it because my dad liked Jackie Chan movies. It's... very 2000 in its treatment of racial politics, but you could reasonably argue that not too much has changed since.

The Princess Bride, 1987

I don't need to explain this to anyone.

Four Weddings and a Funeral, 1994

God, you can see the accent on Hugh Grant's mouth. I don't know why I love this movie as much as I do. I came to it a bit later in my teen years, and I'd watch it again every few years. It's grown on me more and more as the years go on. It's the only British-American ensemble production that I really latched onto, and it's in no small part because the supporting cast is so much fun to watch.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I watch it probably three or four times a year. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell star as two showgirls who embark on a cruise to France to work around the machinations of an old millionaire who refuses to let his son marry Monroe's character. It's got that iconic Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend number, and it has one of the best third-act thesis statement speeches I've ever heard in any era. It's a great old musical.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, 2008

This is a gem that I missed back in 2008 because I was graduating high school at the time and had other things going on (being queer at a Catholic high school in the 2000s sucked ass, btw, let this ol' geezer tell ya). Frances McDormand plays a conservative governess who can't hold down a job because she, being a preacher's daughter, is a morally upright Amelia Bedelia. Out of desperation, she scams her way into becoming the social secretary for a bubbly young actress played by Amy Adams, and they spend a wild and heartwarming day together where Frances McDormand's character navigates wartime, friendship, and romance. This is also the movie that made me develop an embarrassing crush on Lee Pace (not because Lee Pace is embarrassing, I just hate having crushes on famous actors because I know, at the end of the day, that they're just weird theatre kids who have money now). It's based on a novel written in 1938, and it's aged surprisingly well.

Sailor Moon SuperS, 1995

I borrowed the VHS for this movie from the library as often as I could in the second or third grade. It was the one movie I had memorized in my brain to the extent that I could just recite the dub to myself whenever I wanted. Plus, Chibi Moon was my favorite (do not @ me, I will fight you).

Waiting to Exhale, 1995

I don't know how I caught this one as a kid or which channel aired it, but Waiting to Exhale–starring Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Lela Rochon–was something I saw pieces of when I was way too young to understand any of it, and it was a joy to revisit it as an adult. I've since seen it a few times. This endlessly gif'd scene pictured above is every bit as cathartic as it looks, and the soundtrack is incredible.

The Mummy, 1999

Yeah yeah, this is an incredibly unsurprising and safe pick, but the movie is so much damn fun, and Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz have the most belligerently bisexual energy ever shared between a heterosexual pairing. I don't know how else to explain it.

Sister Act 2, 1993

I saw this one on TV a lot, and I watched it from top to bottom every single time. I don't think I've ever actually seen the first one.

Adventures in Babysitting, 1987

I found this movie incredibly delightful, and I'm pretty sure I watched it in adulthood because I was looking for this movie I'd only seen in bits and pieces on TV as a kid or something. It stars Elizabeth Shue and a very young Anthony Rapp. Plot-wise, it's very much like Lord of the Rings if Gandalf were a plucky teen girl and the hobbits were a bunch of literal children. I'm not kidding. It's also an 80s movie about a bunch of white suburbanites who have adventures in Chicago, so there are a couple cringey moments, but by the standards of its time, nothing wildly egregious. Bonus points for a surprise appearance by strapping young Vincent D'Onofrio.

Pretty in Pink, 1986, and Some Kind of Wonderful, 1987, double-feature.

I put these two together because they're the same movie, but gender-swapped. They're both written by John Hughes and directed by Howard Deutch, so they have the same very ineffectual Reagan-era flattening of class consciousness. They're about a poor girl/boy protagonist who falls in love with a rich boy/girl. The protagonist develops a richer relationship with their beleaguered father character and develop a better understanding of themselves, kind of. John Hughes teen comedy-dramas are significant, I think, because they're some of the first blockbuster teen movies that took teens and their feelings seriously, wrote from their perspectives, and courted teens as an audience (for all kinds of historical and economic reasons between the 70s and the 80s, I'm sure, but I'm no expert). They're also more watchable than some of the other John Hughes teen movies; Sixteen Candles is basically unwatchable to me.

Porco Rosso, 1992

I told myself I could only pick one Ghibli movie for this list, and this is it. Porco Rosso might be my favorite Ghibli movie, which might seem like an odd choice for me. Like a lot of millennials who were teens when Spirited Away came out, I got really into the Ghibli catalogue in the late 2000s but had seen some Ghibli movies much earlier in my life. My first was technically Grave of the Fireflies. I was eight, and came away with the notion that if I left my little brother alone, who was five at the time, the adults around us would just let him die, so I had to watch him as carefully as I could. I became an incredibly anxious and overbearing older brother very early. Next, I'd see the Buena Vista release of Kiki's Delivery service, so I have a soft spot for all the Sydney Forest pop songs they inserted in the 90s dub of that movie. By the time I watched Porco Rosso, I'd seen most of the rest of the Ghibli catalogue, but it really stood out to me. Most of Miyazaki's protagonists are girls, but this one is a kids' feature about a middle-aged man with a pig's head. In hindsight, I think I loved it because it is one of those rare children's narratives that conflates femininity with practicality and masculinity with frivolous ostentatiousness. It's worth a watch!

Say Anything... , 1989

This is one of those teen movies where they take small, mundane problems and make them enormous, which I sort of love as a storytelling tool. John Cusack plays Lloyd, a high school underachiever who falls in love with the valedictorian, and you watch him experience true internal motivation for the first time in his young life. It's very cute! I think the thing this sort of teen movie gets really right about being a teenager is you don't really have a sense of scale for your problems at that age because all your problems are just problems you're encountering for largely the first time. Ione Skye's valedictorian character experiences a pretty devastating family issue with her father, but it's flattened into the same strata as her anxiety about flying, her first breakup, and her feelings of isolation and remove from her peers. Plus Lili Taylor is in this as Lloyd's best friend character, and she's great, just like in the next movie on this list...

Mystic Pizza, 1988

I couldn't decide which gif I wanted to use for this movie, so I just picked two. It's another slice-of-life teen comedy-drama, and it's real cozy. The performances from all the young actors are fantastic. Lili Taylor, Annabeth Gish, and Julia Roberts are great in this, plus you get to see strapping young Vincent D'Onofrio again, which is a treat. He gets to do a lot more in this one. At this point it's worth noting that 80s teen movies are obsessed with romances among young people across different social strata, and true to the Reagan era, the movies like to impress upon its audiences that hating rich people is the same as hating poor people (cue heavy eyeroll). This honestly explains a lot of things to me about today's political discourses, I think.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before, 2018

I enjoyed this Netflix movie so much that I watched it 16 or 17 times in the month after its release. It's fine, I'm fine. I don't know exactly what it was. I love rom coms. I've seen a ton of high school romance movies, and this one hit me really hard for some reason.

And that's everything I could come up with off the very top of my head. I think I hit something like 20 movies up there? Whew! That's my evening, but it was the only thing I could focus on for more than an hour at a time today.

[weirdstuffinthewoods]

Bride of Chucky

A Review

Ronny Yu made the correct choice working with the one and only father of Chucky, Don Mancini. I feel like Don's seamless continuing control over the Chucky franchise paired with Ronny Yu's absolute lack of knowledge of the Chucky franchise (and his love of the monster) made for a one-of-a-kind franchise installment.

Writing- 5/5

This entire script takes the snark we know Chucky for and dials it up by giving him a dominating sparring partner in Tiffany Valentine. There are some jokes that kinda feel needless (repeating the "what a crock" joke only got an "eeh" out of me), but Voodoo for Dummies?

And lines like:

"For God's sake Chucky, drag yourself into the 90s"

"Martha Stewart can kiss my shiny plastic butt!"

When Chucky tells Tiffany to "act natural" and this is her response

The entire weird sex scene conversation that 100% does happen in a film about two sentient dolls? It was only a matter of time before we got here, let's be honest.

The addition of Tiffany Valentine allows for a totally valid reason to shake things up- creative kills, high-speed freeway chases with two DOLLS holding two whole adult humans hostage, and the film's only gay character (spoiler but RIP David) getting absolutely blasted by an 18-wheeler for no reason other than Don probably just realized the cast needed to shrink real quick.

Special mention-

The honeymoon suite kill scene. Yeah, it looks a little cheesy, but you best believe before I was old enough to watch horror movies, my older cousin was telling me about this scene in vivid, terrifying detail (much scarier than reality, but what can you do?)

Soundtrack- 4.5/5

Living Dead Girl starts this movie off with a bang and a moment I haven't forgotten for one second of my spooky sapphic life. These are the moments in which horror icons are made.

The soundtrack is mostly upbeat drums and chugging guitar riffs which I loved (it especially added to the freeway chase) I just didn't go full 5 stars because I didn't notice it as much as I'd want to in a party movie like this (because yes, if I ever do host a halloween party I will be popping in this exact VHS to play on repeat).

Also shout out to my boy, Graeme Revell. Been a legend since The Crow in my eyes (but also for so much iconic 80s and 90s horror....and Sharkboy and Lavagirl) and I'll always get excited when I see that name in the credits!

Effects- 4.75/5

First let me say Chucky looks fantastic. Can he emote as well as Tiffany with those pencil-thin eyebrows? Maybe not but this is the opus version of Chucky, so.

The animatronics are still my favorite thing to watch in a Chucky film because you forget that these aren't sentient dolls almost constantly (except when Chucky's body double is crawling on all fours- that's some nightmare fuel). Their faces are so expressive (for rubber doll faces) and there's even a shot of Tiffany walking across the floor of a Winnebago (maybe?) without a wire in sight! Oh, how far we've come.

The effects in some scenes are a little cheesy (the honeymoon suite kill, the gross, fleshy title card, etc) but it's easily overlooked because Chucky and Tiffany are by far the main event of the sfx team.

Extra ratings?

Queerness-3/5

Written by an out gay man, HELLO!

Alexis Arquette!! Easily the second-hottest person in this movie, I loved seeing her camp it up (in a masc role, but goths love to play with androgyny so I'll take it) as the try-hard Damien.

This also unexpectedly features the gbff trope usually reserved for rom-coms in David, a guy whose queerness isn't painfully exaggerated like some portrayals were at the time, and who's probably the most level-headed of the bunch.

RIP, -2 because David got blasted by a big rig and not in the fun way.

Bride of Frankenstein retelling 5/5

It's pretty obvious on rewatch, but this is a whole Bride of Frankenstein retelling. It even follows the title convention (I tell my younger self who completely missed the comparison). I haven't read the dissections of the original that explain why the bride is a metaphor, but in a more literal sense, this Bride has the power unlike her predecessor. Even though she falls in with a toxic ex, she has autonomy and pushes back, eventually sort of kind of helping the two teens (who are not interesting enough to put in this review) stop Chucky. And she gives birth to a weird demon baby while mostly charred through a non-stretch plastic vagina so. That's pretty metal.

Tiffany Valentine 11/5

TIFFANY VALENTINE THE WOMAN THAT YOU ARE

THE COSTUMING

THE TRAILER SET DRESSING

But most of all the performance!!!

I may be looking through heart eyes, but I'm not wrong!

Overall, Bride of Chucky will never not be one of my favorites. The addition of Jennifer Tilly allowed the Child's Play series (and all future iterations), to have fun, but to also play with the tone of its installments. Seed of Chucky and the Chucky series tend to focus on Chucky (and friends)'s humanity and personalities, whereas Curse and Cult of Chucky take the franchise back to an exciting, sometimes scary, and eventually openly queer and complicatedly sapphic place. Ignoring the reboot (which he was thankfully not responsible for), Don Mancini's got quite a legacy going, and Ronny Yu had a key part in that.

[ben-talks-art]

My 10 Favorite DreamWorks Movies

When I first joined Tumblr one of the first few posts I made was a "Best of DreamWorks" where I just pasted a bunch of images from the movies I liked the most.

After seeing the new Puss In Boots movie and seeing all the love it's been getting I thought it would be nice to revisit the list, but this time actually talking about why I like these movies so much.

Just wanna say real quick, If you're coming here wondering if "Shark Tale" will be on the top 5 and how I'm gonna defend my case about it, you lower these expectations right now. This is gonna be a super boring list. My favorites are everyone's favorites.

The only thing I can bring up is why I myself like them, and hopefully, I can bring up unique enough reasons for it. I've always been a fan of this company, mostly because I really respect how many risks they take with the premises of their stories.

I always like to believe that there is no such thing as a bad idea, only a bad execution, and DreamWorks proves that by never being afraid of giving a chance to the weirdest of ideas, and when the execution pays off, it pays off greatly!

So which ideas did I feel were executed the best?

10 . The Bad Guys

First things, first. "Good Tonight" is a freaking awesome song and everyone should give it a listen.

The idea of bad guys is "what if we tried to make the meanest-looking animals that people are familiar with into the heroes of our story?"

Animals like snakes, sharks, spiders, and so on, things that are known for being very dangerous and scary, but placed into the roles of bandits that go on heists while running away from the police.

I always call this the "Not Sly Cooper" movie, because that's exactly what I feel a Sly Cooper movie would be like. Tons of animal-acting-like-human jokes, fun cartoonish heists and car chases, and some nice morals about what it means to be a thief and what it means to be a hero.

Bad Guys is a very charming movie. The characters are all likable, many of the jokes are funny, and the way the movie looks with its blend of 2D and 3D is just amazing. The scene where they are escaping from prison with the help of a "mysterious ninja" being my favorite part.

The only problem I have is that I feel having both a shark and a piranha in the cast was kinda redundant. I would have replaced the piranha with a bat so they would have a scary flying animal instead of two scary water animals. Plus, imagining a bat singing "Good Tonight" just feels like a funnier visual to me.

9. Megamind

"Presentation!!"

The idea for Megamind is rather simple, show what happens when the villain does beat the hero.

I feel like this movie did a good job showing how the fun of working hard can sometimes feel more rewarding than the fun of actually winning, kinda sending a sweet message about the futility of cheating.

I also like how over-the-top Megamind himself is with how he treats all his evil actions as some grand spectacle. Doesn't matter if he's winning or losing, this dude always looks like he's having a lot of fun treating these hero vs villain battles as some sort of playtime with his best friend.

You're basically watching a kid's imagination of what these fights would look like from someone who grew up watching way too many cartoons. Tons of cheesy one-liners, tons of dramatic speeches, tons of last-second twists, and of course, tons of big explosive action.

And it's also fun seeing Megamind's fantasy of what a hero vs villain scenario looks like slowly dying once he meets Titan and how differently he treats this whole thing compared to MetroMan.

The one problem I had was the way the character of Roxane was treated. It felt like they were trying to make her more than just "the girlfriend" and give her more depth, but in the end, her biggest role in the climax was still needing to be saved and serving as emotional support for the main character. Also, the way she was basically catfished by Megamind always made me very uncomfortable, especially when thinking that kids might be watching this and learning from this.

It wasn't too awful, but I felt they could have done more with her.

8. Spirit

"What if we made a movie about the adventures of a horse?"

This one is kinda hard to describe why I like it. I think the reason is that it feels... How do I put it... Honest? Real? Genuine?

Whenever Spirit goes through an emotion it always feels earned. When he's sad, you're sad, when he's angry, you're angry, and when he's celebrating after succeeding in a daring escape, you want to celebrate too.

This movie to me just did a great job at making me feel what this horse was feeling, and most of it with the use of very minimal words.

I loved Spirit, loved his chemistry with the villain, loved the sense of speed whenever he is running through the fields or avoiding the cowboys... and most of all, loved the joy you get whenever you feel free.

It's not that this gives you a great sense of freedom, its that it gives you a desire to fight for freedom! It makes you feel you can be more, and do more and have the right to reject being tied down by others who want to limit your true potential and control you.

This movie makes you want to be free.

7. The Road to El Dorado

Do I even need to say anything besides the fact that this movie has Chel in it?

But for real, I think this movie was my introduction to the Maya, Inca, and Azteca culture, (I think my closest only other option at the time was "Mucha Lucha" of all things...), and they make this culture look fun and cool.

The architecture looked nice, the clothing looked nice, the people were so likable, and anytime they party you just want to party as well. I kept waiting for some big reveal to happen for the citizens to turn on the heroes, but they never do, and that was so refreshing, just showing people from different areas becoming friends AND staying friends.

I also love how funny Miguel and Tulio are, I was a kid when I first saw this so I was weirded out by the idea of two adults as the leads but I was sold on them very quickly. Even their horse was likable. everyone is just so likable in this movie. It makes you want to visit El Dorado and hang out with all these people.

Such a charming, funny, and friendly movie.

Also Chel. Chel was a big selling point.

6. Puss in Boots, the Last Wish

I already talked about this one over here, but, long story short, like many other movies on this list, I love how good this movie is at sucking you into the mood.

The way the visuals, the story, the dialogue, and the characters work together really succeed into making you feel what these people are feeling and making want to see more of them.

Didn't matter if it was the heroes, the villains, the antagonists, or what, I was 100% behind everyone's motivations and I couldn't wait to see all their goals clashing with each others'.

Also, the wolf is by far one of DreamWork's best antagonists, right up there with Shen and Ramses. He looks cool, talks cool, and even his motivation was cool.

This wasn't just a movie, this was an experience.

5. Shrek 2

I freaking dare anyone going into this movie blind to predict what the climax is going to be.

The weird idea of this one is that Shrek after marrying his wife needs to meet her parents... And that's it. It's just one long and uncomfortable reunion with people who really don't want to be on the same room together and all the things they try to pull of to make or break this relationship.

Hire assassins, request help from magic fairies, fake your appearance, steal a potion, it's all about seeing how far everyone is willing to go to do what they think it's the best for those they love.

It all turns into a glorious and creative mess and I can't help but love every second of it!

(Side note, anyone ever notices how often DreamWorks sequels focus on the idea of characters dealing with their parents?)

4. Kung Fu Panda 2

If it wasn't for Prince of Egyp, I would say that this was the hardest and darkest DreamWorks movie.

There is so much focus on feeling lost, feeling abandoned, feeling hopeless and betrayed, and just trying to understand what you're doing wrong and what you need to do right.

This movie was like a therapy session... Done with talking cartoon animals, yes, but a therapy session no less.

The themes of trying to understand yourself, where you came from, and where you want to go are all handled greatly as you watch the relationship between the hero and the villain.

Po and Shen have such an absurdly great chemistry. I love seeing them talking, fighting, and trying to one-up each other, and I really love how much their relationship changes the more they learn about each other, and it all happens so fast and so smoothly too.

It makes me angry whenever I see a movie and the hero and the villain barely talk with each other. That's one of the best things you can do with them! Why are you skipping it??

Luckily this one didn't, and in return, we got one of the best interactions ever. I love these two by themselves and love these to together. Just a pair of wonderful characters that work really well off each other!

3. The Prince of Egypt

Man... What do I even say about this one?

It's probably the riskiest idea DreamWorks has ever tried to do, tell the story of Exodus as an animated musical... And that was their second movie ever after freaking "Antz!" These guys have a lot of guts.

This was a movie that I didn't really get it when I saw it as a kid, but I just love trying to understand its themes and messages now that I'm older.

I love the main conflict between the brothers, again, bringing attention to how good a story can be when you focus on the connection of the hero and the villain. Showing both sides of people who grew up under an unhealthy ideology, one trying to grow out of it and the other trying to embrace it even more.

I love the imagery of Egypt, both as this grand epic kingdom built from the struggle and pain of the slaves and as this falling empire being attacked by God Himself. The visuals of the plagues being my favorites.

And I love the sense of calmness that appears whenever the chaos takes a break. Seeing Moses and his people getting out from the ocean and enjoying the dawn of a new era after all the struggle they went through just felt so rewarding. It's just such a satisfying ending for such a long journey... As long as you decide to stop there and don't look up what happens in the rest of the story.

I especially love the concept of Ramses, A person so deep into the teachings of his father that he can't even see why the things he's doing are so bad. I think my favorite part is when he's hugging his son while glaring at Moses and just asking "Why?" while he has this GIANT WALL SHOWING BABIES BEING FEED TO CROCODILES right behind him.

It's such an amazingly blind irony as the man cries for his kid's safety while the crying of all these dead kids looms over his shoulder. Just how do you have to be raised to turn into this kind of person?

It's so baffling but I just can't stop watching and wondering how far is this man willing to go. Such a sad showing of someone who doesn't see he's on the wrong side and trying to fight against the tides.

It's a beautifully sad, and yet hopeful movie.

2. Kung Fu Panda

Yeah, I put Kung Fu Panda above Prince of Egypt... I don't know what's wrong with me either. I don't know, for some reason, I just have a lot of respect for this movie? Prince of Egypt I liked a lot but I couldn't really fully understand it and enjoy it until I was much older. Meanwhile, even when young I could already enjoy Kung Fu Panda a lot.

It felt like it had a bigger challenge by being a good, deep movie while also being fun, funny, and cheerful.

It's easy to make dark stories have strong messages and depth, but it's hard to have no-so-dark stories also have strong messages and depth, and I have such an appreciation for that. They could have just made this a lame joke-fest about being an overweight character trying to learn martial arts, but they didn't!

They put a lot of effort into the lessons, the fighting, the motivations of the characters, the visuals, and even the jokes! I thought the jokes were going to be awful but they were all very charming!

I love the designs of the cast in how they each represent a level of kung-fu, AND, I love the Kung-fu itself.

I feel like this is the Kung Fu Panda movie that tries the most to be creative with combining martial arts in a cartoon setting. Like... I like Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3 but I don't really remember much of the action there aside from the stuff in climaxes with the "water dodgeball" section and the "giant energy dragon avatar in the spiritual realm" section.

But in here? I remember the bridge fight, the prison escape, the master vs student showdown, the hot-potato game with the scroll, and even the training sessions with Po and the five.

I feel like as the movies went on they focused more on the spiritual journey of self-discovery and toned down the cartoon action, while in here it's just perfect.

It's amazing how many elements this movie is trying to balance while still pulling it off each of them so well.

I just wished that Po and Tai-Lung had more scenes of interaction because they basically feel like strangers in the end even though the whole movie is building up to their fight... A fight that... Really doesn't feel as good as all the action that came before to be honest.

But still, that's just one small little problem in what's otherwise a perfect product. Besides... KFP2 covers the whole Hero vs Villain thing that was lacking in here by more than making up for it, so it's all good. 1. How To Train Your Dragon

Of course my favorite DeamWorks movie is the one with the dragon. I freaking love dragons! I have a comic based on people that become dragons for crying out loud!

Kidding aside, this is a movie with a message that I just respect a lot. I really appreciate the idea of teaching kids the importance of knowing how to stop, looking at what you're doing, trying to understand who you're hurting, and what you can do to change.

This isn't just something that holds value to kids, this holds value to everyone. We are always so focused on going after the things we want that we tend to forget the people we're sometimes stepping on to get there, and this movie shows that not only do we not lose anything for trying to be friends with these people, but we might even gain something even better.

I just adore the friendship of Hiccup and Toothless (God, I love these names).

One is a kid trying to make his father proud by following the family legacy, while also trying to do what he loves by studying and befriending dragons and the conflicts that come from trying to please both sides. This is such a great lesson for kids because they're always stuck into deciding on what's best for them and what's best for what their parents want from them.

And the other side is a pet slowly lowering his defenses and deciding if he wants to trust this weird stranger that tried to hurt him or give him a second chance to prove himself as a possible ally. What do you do? Put yourself at risk and give others a chance or remain safe and away from possible harm?

This movie reminds me a lot of Lake in that if you keep looking at it you can take away twenty different lessons and themes to talk about.

Again, it's the challenge of trying to be deep while avoiding being too dark and remaining all-ages-friendly.

Kids are gonna watch this, they're gonna love the dragons and the flying scenes, and they're gonna come back years later and pick up things they didn't see were there before and later realize that without noticing it, these lessons became a part of them and a part of what they do.

You can feel that there is a lot of love in this movie. I remember watching the commentary and looking at how the creators always would get excited when there was a silent scene or a world-building scene. It's clear they had a lot of fun working on this product, and this love really can be felt through the characters, their growth, and their emotions.

I freaking adore this movie, and I freaking adore DreamWorks!

[borom1r]

@theshakespearetrash SENT ME MORE ASKS ILYYYYYY TYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! this round is abt remake!John Ryder + my OC Kenneth >:3

(ask meme)

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

2– What was their first impression of each other?

Kenneth thought John was the hottest person he’d ever seen in his life. John thought Ken was a freak weirdo with issues (correct)

6– If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

Ken would’ve believed you. John would’ve scoffed

7– What would their lives be like if they had never met?

HM. Ken probably would’ve died in a car crash and/or some other insane snuff scenario. he was looking to get hurt when he picked up John.

John would’ve died a red smear on a New Mexico highway thanks to the butt of Grace’s shotgun.

GENERAL

2– Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

sort of???? Ken counts their first night together as their first date, since “date nights” generally involve murder or seedy motel room roleplays lmao.

so not. SUPER official, but Ken picked up John, got turned on when John threatened him with a knife which John really wasn’t expecting. Ken drove them both to a motel room + the rest is history!

3– What was their first kiss like?

VERY UN-ROMANTIC. John bit the shit out of Ken’s bottom lip. (un)fortunately for everyone involved, Ken found that extremely hot.

4– Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

uh yeah actually. mutually each other’s first Serious Committed Relationship. freak2freak communication.

5– What’s their height difference? Age difference?

Ken’s the same height as John (they r both 5’10) + John is 20 yrs older (48 to Ken’s 28)

6– What’s their relationship with each other’s families? Do they share a friend group?

NONEXISTENT + NONEXISTENT. They both cut ties w/ their family + Ken’s vibes are generally Strange and Offputting. has a couple work friends from the derby track. John has no friends.

7– Who takes the lead in social situations?

Positive social situations? Ken. Murders and/or fights? John

8– Who gets jealous easier?

JOHN. does not help that Ken likes to make him jealous

9– Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

they mutually tease each other lol. this is bad if they’re in public bc it generally ends w/ some fucker getting killed on the side of a highway

LOVE

2– What are their primary love languages?

both touch, actually

3– Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

KEN lol

4– How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

PDA? rare to never. cuddling? John has accepted it as an inevitability that Ken is gonna wind up w/ his head in John’s lap At Some Point if they’re home watching TV/relaxing

5– Who initiates kisses?

casual kisses, Ken. John gets bitey if they’re fucking + Ken’s just along for the ride, there

6– Who’s the big and little spoon?

they don’t normally spoon bc John finds it stifling, but if he’s having a bad day then Ken will big spoon

7– What are their favorite things to do together?

murder ppl??? modify cars??? have sex near crime scenes??? plot their mutual demise??? idk man they’re terrible people

8– Who’s better at comforting the other?

Ken’s better at comforting John

9– Who’s more protective?

KEN. Ken as a rule does not murder people (he just likes watching), but if there’s a risk of John getting hurt? he’ll tear the fucking world apart. especially after hauling John’s battered, BRAIN-DAMAGED body off the highway. he MAKES John wear a seatbelt now lmao

10– Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

Physical for both. John’s terrible at verbal affection anyways lol

11– What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

LMFAO. CRASH BY GWEN STEFANI /hj

real answer is How We Operate by Gomez for obvious reasons, + I also really like Satan is My Motor by CAKE for them

12– What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

they don’t. Ken might call John “babe” once in a blue fucking moon but that’s it. John calls Ken “freak”

13– Who remembers the little things?

Kennnnnn but John gets a pass he had a traumatic brain injury

DOMESTIC LIFE

6– Who worries the most?

KEN. he doesn’t express it well but he worries sooooo much abt John + them potentially being tracked down. constantly updating escape plans

7– Who kills the bugs in the house?

both of them lol they don’t care abt bugs

8– How do they celebrate holidays?

Ken drags John kicking + screaming into a Festive Mood. it was a fucking fistfight getting John to celebrate his own birthday nevermind like. actual holidays. Ken is 100% the kind of person to just hang a plant in the door to the trailer so he has an excuse to kiss John (it’s definitely not mistletoe but stfu it still counts)

9– Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

also mutual actually. John doesn’t generally have anywhere to be until dark + Ken loves any excuse to Lay On John lol

10– Who’s the better cook?

John if he tried. he does not try. Ken can cook the basics. they get takeout most of the time

[madlyn5ever]

I have a list of songs I think the duffers need to use in ST5, and I’ve just added another one so I thought I’d share my list and my thoughts about each one:

Just Another Day- Oingo Boingo

(this is almost the whole plot of this show, -specifically season 4 and what it set up for s5, but, yeah. The first line is literally “there’s life underground” and it talks about crimson red sky’s and people d-wording and the temperature increasing -ik it’s not as fitting bc the temperature would drop bc he likes it cold, but the reference to temperature at all works. And so much more)

This Town- The Go-Go’s

This one would be ironic (on purpose) because of it’s line “this town is our town, it is so glamorous” and when I picture the song I picture it in a night setting, but I think it could work for a day time or even afternoon-evening low sun setting, with everyone on bikes even Robin, Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan (I forgot to include him I think I forgot he existed -or would be there maybe?- for a moment)

Is This Love?- Whitesnake

(for a Robin romance scene. I am respectfully open to other ships in my comments for this but in my head it’s always only been for Robin. Vickie or Nancy I don’t care -I am ronance 4 ever but I respect Vickie-but I feel like since it’s probably going to be Vickie I’m inclined to say it’s for them.

BUT! I also see this moment having Nancy in the background looking on as she has a moment where she either realizes she loves Robin or she already knew and is just really sad bc Robin likes Vickie. I can see vickie being behind them on an asphalt road and Nancy see’s her over robins shoulder and nudges her and that’s when she goes over and they have the moment. Maybe Steve even comes up next to Nancy and sympathetically puts a hand on her should because somehow he just knows, or Nancy told him.

HOWEVER. I could also see this being a split moment with the song, where they happen to be under the one spot of light that’s shining down, and it’s either Vickie, and a true romance/flirting/shy feelings scene, or an accidental moment where you’re like wait holy shit this song is playing right now when Ronance is talking under that one spotlight. And it’s super unescorted and crazy as fuck and we all freak out. (Nancy does her signature half smile/smirk thing and let’s put a small chuckle because robins such a dork, and nothing too real happens yet but we somewhere)

Walk-in’ In Hawkins

I know this is just a score from the show, but it’s my favorite and as much as it was made for a specific vibe in a specific season for a specific reason, I’m petitioning that they bring it back just because I love it so much.

(It sounds really good on vinyl btw.)

Forever Young- Rod Stewart

I think this one would be good towards the end, like, after everything, we get this song, and it’s like one of those montage moments you’d see in the moment right before or during the credits of a movie, and they’re telling you where he characters ended up, with like the shit of them doing something freezes and the words come up on screen?

But minus that and maybe it’s just them all doing various things after everything is over (I don’t necessarilysee the duffers doing the cheesy but sweet where are they now thing, except I can see Dustin smiling with a cake in front of him for some reason, but I could see this song playing maybe either in a car as it drives away, or on a speaker considering it basically started with Jonathan’s record collection and him showing will The Clash. So Jonathan could’ve the guy putting on the music.)

Let’s Hear It For The Boy- Denice Williams

Purely for a Steve scene. Not connected to any of the women in the show this song is just for Steve and himself. It’s romantic nature doesn’t matter. To me this is a good song for a Steve moment. OR!! It starts with Steve but the moment cuts to a Will and Mike scene and it’s like, wait is this actually for Byler

Trinere-

If they go into the early 90’s something by Trinere? I haven’t decided what song yet, but I grew up on this Trinere and friends CD my mom would play in the car and I really think something by Trinere would be cool.

Rick Astly- (I’m not gonna Google how to spell that)

Are we gonna get Rick rolled? They have t done it yet and for an 80’s show that popped up right around the rick roll hype years it’s a bit of a shock and disappointment thing. (This one is so unserious I don’t need a Rick roll, but duffers.. if you wanna.)

Kate Bush- Army Dreamers (or any Kate bush song)

This one just because I need Max’s love of Kate Bush to be shown more, especially if she’s gonna be in a coma for who knows how long. Lucas playing Kate Bush on a boom box for her and then the song being important to the story would just be, chefs kiss.

Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac- Edge of Seventeen or Landslide

Listen. LISTEN. For the time jump. The kids are probably going to be on the literal edge of seventeen. That, and Nancy and Robin are going to be just past that age, and therefore also on the edge of it because they were recently seventeen on to eighteen.

And I think this could be a really cool tie in to their loss of innocence at such a young age, and their teetering on the edge of being kids. It’s an idea, I think. Let me know if this one’s a stretch bc I don’t know maybe I just crave Stevie Nicks.

now LANDSLIDE. This one could be really good for any sort of scene. A Jancy break up, a Byler awkward start into a relationship. A Mileven break up but decision to be best friends instead, Mike realizing he’s built his life around Eleven being his girl, or Will being his best friend all these years, and mikes own changing into something he’s afraid of.

The wheelers would dominate this song is all I’m saying. The wheelers being so landslide coded is all I’m saying. Anyway. The wheelers need some start-of -something-positive emotional turmoil this season.

Borderline- Maddona

Something Madonna to call back to Max and Elevens friendship, but I like this song so I’m picking this one (I love others others too but this one came to mind first)

Indigo Girls-

Again, if they go into the 90’s can we please get some indigo girls? I’ll pay. Duffers I don’t have a lot of money but I’d pay you to put some indigo girls in there for Robin PLEASE. I feel like Nancy would like them too so also for her.

Shiny Happy People- R.E.M

(Can’t for the life of me remember if they’ve used this already but I’m pretty sure they haven’t)

It would just be so ironic and so on point for the traumatized teenagers (and Erica) to have this song in the soundtrack.

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head- B.J. Thomas

Okay this one could work so well for a transition sequence (or a few) where they go into (if they all split up which seems to be something that’s obviously gonna happen),

The other group doing whatever they’re supposed to be doing. Idk this song sounds so much like a song they’d use to transition to the next scene. And it’s not intensely here or there plot wise but could work for a moment where they’re trying ti get something to work (I see a will and his group scene that switches to a hopper and his group scene, unless hop is part of wills group, y’know?)

Let me know if you have any thoughts on this or other ideas for the soundtrack! (I had others but I forgot half of them and the rest don’t fit anymore because I’ve been compiling this for months)

[juuheizou]

Woke up today with an unusual urge to discuss possible 3D Juuzou looks. What is your favorite look of his? Doesn’t have to be cannon. Hair color, length, style? What is your favorite part of his body? Of his face? Does he have any noticeable features (minus the missing leg and the nuts situation)? What does he smell like, is it a sweet smell, is he a clean boy? Anything you wanna share mind when it comes to real human Juuzou and his appearance! I love being delulu🤪

Ooh, this is such an interesting ask! Thanks so much for bearing with me, friend.

Personally, it's so hard to pick a favorite canon look of his. They're all so good! But one thing I wish we saw more of his what he actually wears outside work, you know what I mean? He strikes me as a comfy lounge/streetwear guy but part of me wants to know if Ishida knows his own character as well as I do haha. I like the idea of a casual Suzu all comfy in some baggy pyjamas and a beanie that may or may not have animal ears on it.

Also, making his murder board in some recess of the 13th Ward Office in sleep-deprived dishevelment cackling like a killer clown because he's onto something with a messy bun, sweatpants, and sleeves rolled up on a CCG sweatshirt I like to think investigators get occasionally like other highly fraternal helping professions do. +/- Mutsuki by his side in his actual white coat encouraging him to take a break from his autistic tunnel vision combined with hyperfocus.

Another one we NEVER see in canon and that's a tragedy, but for hair color/length/style, I think it would be cool and cute to see what happens to his hair between cuts/dye sessions (I STRONGLY headcanon his black hair is dye), like post-Auction awards ceremony length with roots/fading going on. I think it would look cool as hell for him to have a reverse-Haise head right before he refreshes his hair. As far as canon goes, I really like both his original series and :re hair and can't choose!

I'm going to be cheesy as hell, but I think my favorite part of his body is his hands. For no logical reason projection I see him having tiny hands, but they're steady and nimble with a death grip that can leave bruises if he wants to. I mean, he embroiders his own body-- he's GOT to have some steady, competent hands. Hands enable him to do lots of fun things! For his face, I think he would still have a very distinctive, perpetually a little sinister, smile that's in the eyes as much as the mouth, though of course toned down without the freedom of cartoon logic. Those are probably his most notable features that I can see carrying over into the 3D world!

His blood might still smell sweet, but if you're not a ghoul and that scent isn't drowning out everything else around him, I'm probably being a downer, but dude is a little disheveled. He tends to smell unremarkable, slightly bad/vague undertones of 'gruesome crime scene' if you were to end up in cramped quarters with him on shower day. Not the worst, because he manages enough showers to not get complained on by colleagues/civilians and such, but deodorant and dry shampoo after a long shift is a vibe he knows well.

Thanks for the ask! You're right, this stuff is really fun to think about!

[peachiseas]

I'm also someone who didn't understand Baxter's hold on everyone. I get it, it's full of drama and angst. You've got an LI who can be your ex and you can play it up on his route. He's flirty, sweet, and smooth but deep down he's hurt and traumatized. These kinds of flavors appeal to a lot of people. Realistically, I could never go back or talk to someone who told me to fuck off and cut contact with me for 5 years. No matter what the reason was.

Derek suffers from being absent for 10 years, but dude at least bothers with phone calls and occasional visits (according to the in-betweens). I also get that his family get in the way a lot but they're endearing (Jorge being my favorite) and welcome you with open arms.

The other reason why some didn't enjoy the DLC much bc it starts at Step 2 where you're both 13 and that's probably not as exciting for them bc all you do is slight flirting and being all blushy and shy, unlike in Step 3 where you get to do more than that. That kind of reason though irritates me. I didn't hear anyone complaining when they flirted with Cove at 13 but Derek? nah that's boring. It's all about experiencing the joys of young love and being silly teens!

Tbh... I'm going to be honest, Baxter in game is literally word for word one of those love interests you would read about in a cheesy melodramatic korean romance webtoon. And you know those work well for that audience, but in Our Life? It really doesn't hold up especially when all of his issues stem from being "too rich" which gives off a woe is me attitude and "my parents are too controlling" which is more acceptable but it also gives off a woe is me issue especially because once again. His family is ultra wealthy. It sounded more of an inconvenience than it did a legitimate problem for him in step 3 because he easily had the finances to break away from that, or that could have been just shoddy writing. And then ofc you have the random shoehorned "my parents are super bigoted" line that boils my fucking skin cause it feels so fucking weird to just have that in there and then move on like nothing happened and you got to sit with the information that real world racism and homophobia exists in a game like OL still.

It's just so very weird and very mishandled, and I feel bad cause I like the idea of Baxter actually trying to struggle to get his independence, but we get. None of that.

Also, people who complain about Derek's dlc in that regard are usually extremely biased, and I do not take any of that criticism because it's not even genuine criticism. You could say, "I think i would have loved to spend more time with Derek solo," and that would be fine. But to say "I dont like his family because their boring" or "We dont get to make out with Derek or do anything of that sort in step 2" and dismiss his DLC cause of that? Yea, that's the bias showing. Which is funny too cause Derek's makeout scene is leagues better than all of Baxter's makeout scenes combined but whatever