#every single scene with young matt is just perfect

[achingly-shy]

also skylar gaertner is so talented

[cherrylng]

Headline - Bright Eyes+Muse interviews [ROCKIN'ON (March 2000)]

The year 2000 starts here! Is the impatience that can only be tolerated by a dazzling youth the birth of the Year Zero generation? Rockin'On fully supports Bright Eyes and Muse, the two passions that run around while showing off the physique of young boys, and offers tickets to support their visit to Japan!

Interview: Mariko SAKAMOTO Photography: JIM NEWBERRY (Bright Eyes) Interpretation: Erika YAMASHITA (Muse)

The noisy days of Y2K! and the bubble era have returned to normal, and the onslaught of millennium visits to Japan has come to an end, but is it time to breathe a sigh of relief? Has anything started to happen? Year 2000 = Year Zero. It's only a matter of time, but we'd like to introduce two newcomers who make you feel that the year 2000 is just around the corner. Bright Eyes is a band centred on Conor Oberst, a home recording poet from Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Their interactions with the Athens scene are also a hot topic, but technically they can't be called newcomers, having released a compilation even before their debut full-length album was released last year. However, the self-denial and (literally) exploding shouts heard on their latest EP 'Every Day and Every Night' show an awakening of the core of expression in a style that has tended to veer towards experimental pop. Already waiting for their second release, it is a unique singing voice that cradles bottomless sadness in their clear eyes. In contrast, Muse are a three-piece from Devon, UK. They first attracted the attention of an American record company and were signed to Maverick. Although there was a feeling that the band was ahead of its time, their single ‘Muscle Museum’ broke through on the UK indie charts last year. The drama is sharply played by a blue, straightforward guitar sound that has been compared to early Radiohead. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is reminded of Jeff Buckley, with vocalist Matt Bellamy's rich expressiveness underpinning the high level of perfection of their debut. Both have very different sounds, but their straightforward voices are tugging at your heartstrings. The voice that started it all was always so vivid. With that voice, the clock starts ticking again.

"Writing songs was like smashing a windowpane."

(BRIGHT EYES/Conor Oberst) ● You started writing songs when you were about 11 years old, what was it like when you ‘discovered’ guitars and four-track recording equipment? 「Yeah, it was like, “I'm glad I found something to do”. It's like keeping a diary. It's a way of expressing your feelings in a more proper way. …… Compared to when I was a smaller kid. It's like writing a song on a four-track or throwing something at a window and smashing it, they're both the same thing.」

● Were there other kids around your age when you started writing songs who were making songs with four-tracks and guitars? 「Not quite the same age, but I had older friends who were writing songs. They were about five or six years older than me. They all encouraged me to write songs too. I'm still hanging out with them and making music with them.」

● I see. So you prefer sitting alone in a dark basement and recording than going out and playing with friends or skateboarding or anything like that? 「Haha (laughs). No, there are two sides to me, I guess. I like having fun too. I like to have fun, I like to throw parties, but…… But I always end up going home and spending time alone (laughs).」

● Yes, yes (laughs)…… Well, I believe you're 19 (20 this year), you're attending university, aren't you? 「Yeah…… Um, I'm actually going to take a leave of absence from next semester. I'm thinking of doing a lot of touring and stuff.」

● So you're planning to concentrate on your music? 「Yeah, hopefully. I'm going to take this semester off, and if it goes well, then I can continue with music. So I'm putting off my studies for a while (bursts out laughing). No, it's not that I don't like university, but I don't know exactly what I want to do……」

● That's unreliable. I have the impression that you write and record songs almost every day, but when do you feel the strongest urge to write songs? 「Well…… It's a bit of a strange feeling. Sometimes songs come out of a depressed mood. In that case, I just run to the guitar and play it straight away. But if I try to force myself to sit down and say, "Come on, I've got to write", I feel like it's never going to work. So I guess you have to wait for the ‘moment’ to come. And those moments are when I don't feel very good, like when I'm sad. That's why my songs sound like that. But I'm thinking that I need to get out of that. I want to write happier songs. Because …… I don't want to just make the listener sad all the time.」

● I see. And your debut album as an original, "Letting Off the Happiness", seemed a bit scattered. It was more like a collection of songs rather than an album. 「No, it was meant to be a single album. But because of the way we recorded it, the result was kind of…… It's a bit of a jagged, cut-and-paste, patched-together kind of sound. Because the album was recorded partly in my parents' basement, partly at a friend's house, and partly at Ascend in a completely different environment, so it's got that kind of disjointed sound. It ended up being a kind of collage of different sound qualities. In terms of the songs, I think thematically it's like an album, but maybe in terms of the way it sounds, there's a lot of ebb and flow to it.」

● Are you satisfied with the results? I got the impression that you weren't really interested in the cohesion of an album. 「No, not at all. I've just finished a new album, and it's more…… smooth and unified. I'm trying to work in that direction now, but when I was making ‘Letting~’…… I wasn't so concerned about cohesion (laughs). What can I say, I just…… I wanted it to sound intuitive, like I was reacting to something. I didn't want it to be a nice, well-proportioned piece of work.」

● Is that so? So, when I listen to your EP ‘Everyday and Every Night’, I feel that your songwriting is becoming more straightforward. 「Yeah, I think that's right. I always hope I'm growing as a writer (laughs). But you can't tell if you're growing or not, can you? But I feel like I'm more in control of what I'm doing than I used to be. It's not like I'm just waiting for something to happen. I'm starting to understand what I'm doing. I used to be, how should I put it…… I was trying to feel something in the darkness, or rather, I was searching for what to do in the darkness. I think cool sounds and cool songs came out of that. But now…… Everything is much more direct and well intentioned.」

● I love the song ‘Perfect Sonnet’ on that EP. Especially the part where your voice shakes and turns inside out and explodes into a shout - I've never heard such an intense expression of emotion. 「Oh…… I try not to rely too much on that kind of singing…… No, I think that a tiny whisper, for example, can convey just as much emotion as a loud, broken shout can. There are definitely some shouting on this album, but I think emotions are a very broad thing, and I think that up until now I've only been able to capture very, very extreme emotions. I've been able to shake off a lot of extreme emotions, such as despair, burnout, joy, and so on. But there are a lot of emotions in between. You can be perfectly depressed or insanely happy, and there are days when you don't feel either. People's emotions are more subtle, and that's what we're aiming for with the new songs we're writing. Of course, I like the feeling of being able to scream and let all the emotions out. But I want to be able to do more than that. I don't want to be able to express only one emotion. …… I want to be able to convey all sorts of grey emotions, not simply black and white.」

● Yeah, yeah. I think your songs express a strong longing for perfect love, happiness and joy, but at the same time, I feel like there is a fear of losing such joy and happiness. 「Ah…… You know, you're exactly right! That's the problem I have with myself, or…… That's a great description of the problems that come from my depression. I see things. I notice that there's something beautiful, and already at that moment I'm like, that beauty is going away, it's gone, it's turned into something ugly! That's how I feel. When I see something wonderful, the moment I see it, I think about the end. Everything seems like that…… I can't help thinking that, all my favourite friends, they're all lovely, but one day they're going to get old. I know that's the fate of all things, but everything changes…… But that's a great insight to realise that!」

● No…… (chuckles). 「Even though I've never met them (laughs).」

● Certainly (laughs). The words ‘Bright Eyes’ appear several times in your songs. What do these words symbolise? 「Yeah. Well, I can't remember the name…… Um, I used to watch an old film channel at my parents' house. It was a very long time ago, way before the first CD came out. Yeah, I really don't even remember the title of the film, but it was an old film with, like, Humphrey Bogart in it or something. And the main character calls out to a pretty girl, ‘Bright Eyes’. "Don't worry, pretty girl. You'll be on time for the train" or something like that. And I thought that was a nice way of expressing my fondness for the girl. So I wrote a song about it. I think it was the second song on an early compilation…… I wrote a couple of other songs using the words ‘Bright Eyes’ before I decided on the band name. I think that word has everything I love in it, like beauty, youth and…… When you look into someone's eyes, they are full of life…… I think that's the image. I think it's the most wonderful thing in the world. I think that's where it comes from.」

"I think everyone is thinking, I want to leave my mark on something."

(MUSE/Matt Bellamy)

● What impact did your first encounter with music have on your life? 「I started playing piano when I was 8 or 9. I liked Ray Charles and that kind of boogie-woogie piano. I didn't learn at first, I just listened to records and imitated what I heard. Then, when I was 12 or 13, I started playing guitar. I was influenced by British indie bands like Sonic Youth and stuff like that. But until I was 16 or 17, I couldn't make up my mind whether I was going to be serious about being in a band or going to university. So I spent four or five months travelling around Europe with my acoustic guitar and I learnt a lot of different guitar playing techniques. Flamenco, traditional Italian, and Greek guitar. It was totally different from what I had been playing. So when I came back from the trip, I had a lot of new ideas. So I think that was probably my biggest musical encounter.」

● I see. This is reflected in the variety of songs on this album. You say that Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and Radiohead's 'The Bends' are your favourite albums, but you must have been 13 or 14 when you listened to those two albums. 「Yeah, that one. Well, I just wanted to say that those two albums are two classics of the 90s. And we're an extension of the succession of bands like that. They were the successors of bands like the [Sex] Pistols and the Smiths and Echo Bunny [aka Echo & the Bunnymen], and even further back, the Beatles and [Elvis] Presley. In R&R [rock n' roll], everything is inherited and evolves, and we are the new generation in that. We're just ten years younger than Nirvana and Radiohead.」

● You can feel the change in the generation. The album was produced by John Leckie. Did working with him bring new inspiration to Muse's music? 「He helped us a lot with setting up the environment and where to record. It's about creating the right atmosphere for each song. He didn't have any input into the songwriting. I think the biggest thing he's given me is the Radiohead comparisons (laughs).」

● (laughs) It's an unavoidable part of the process. What do you yourself think about that comparison? 「Um…… It's fine, isn't it? Hahaha. Because, as I said before, everything originates from somewhere and can be traced all the way back. In the end, I think it all starts from the moment a musician wants to communicate their feelings and their situation. In that sense, we have something in common with Radiohead and the other bands I mentioned earlier. We want to express what we feel as people born and raised in this era.」

● I see. So, the town you grew up in, Teignmouth, seems to be a beautiful seaside town that attracts people in the summer as a resort. Was it ‘dead’ so to speak? 「No, it's not that bad, but it's just a bit boring. There's not much to do. But I'm sure there are many, many, many other towns like that. I'm sure lots of people live a similar life. But when we moved to that town, we were 13 or 14, and of course we looked around for something interesting to do, but there was nothing, except watching TV. That's when we started playing music, and we formed a band and started rehearsing and so on. We're a bit fed up with the town because every time we go into town we get into fights. There were people who didn't like us. All I remember is violence, and I don't like it. At first glance, it looks like a peaceful town, but whenever I go out at night, I get the stink eye.」

● Is it because you're a young guy who thinks he's an artist playing in a band? 「Hahahaha! That's exactly right.」

● (laughs) Muse's music has an excessive amount of emotion and passion. What is it that drives you to create such intense music? 「I think everyone wants to express what they feel, to be understood or misunderstood by others, and in any case to leave some kind of mark. That we are here, and that we are feeling this way. I think it's part of human evolution. Whether it's art, science, or contributing to the maintenance of the system by raising children. So I think what we are doing is talking about the system and how it affects us, for better or for worse. There is a significant element of the absence of religion. Our generation is one that has grown up without a specific religion, and everyone implicitly accepts the media and television as a way of connecting with others. Part of the album is about whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, and whether technological advances are destroying us or liberating us. It's something I myself don't know the answer to.」

● I see. And you have a beautiful falsetto voice— 「Uhuhuhuhu……….」

● You don't have to be so shy (laughs). Despite this, the words you sing are harsh and sometimes even challenging. 「Yeah, yeah.」

● By releasing the darker, self-destructive side of yourself into your music— 「Eheheheheh.」

● (laughs) Do you feel like you're sort of redeemed by letting go? 「Yeah, I think the first album was definitely like that. You go deep into yourself and look at the dark side and the good side and express that. But if you succeed by expressing yourself openly like that, there's a danger. You think that if you don't do that all the time, you won't be able to go on. And then the next work goes deeper and darker. But I don't want to do that. I think it's important to know other people's emotions, not just your own, and sometimes you need to become someone else's character and express yourself from their point of view. It's dangerous to be too focused on yourself, I think it's important to look outside the cocoon that is you.」

● Yes, that's very perceptive. I'm really looking forward to the gig in March, as the live show is highly acclaimed. So, do you have a message for Japanese listeners? 「What message? Oh, hahaha… Well, the album alone is only half of us. The other half is our live shows. So if you see us live, you'll get the whole picture. I would also like to say that the message itself is all in the music.」

☆ The weeping acolytes Bright Eyes and the rising star Muse, who twist and turn on the opposite emotions. The magazine's acclaimed Hope are all coming to Japan! Bright Eyes is an in-store gig. It's a free event, so please feel free to attend. Muse's Japan show is a ticket-purchase event! We will be inviting 10 groups of 20 people, so please apply using the enclosed postcard (must arrive no later than Wednesday 16 February). This is your chance to experience first-hand their sound, which marks a moment in time that will never come again. Don't miss it!!!

Translator's Note: Was it necessary for me to translate the Bright Eyes interview? Not really. But since the article was covering both bands and I've already scanned and extracted the texts, I thought I might as well just do it anyways. It gives a nice compare and contrast about Conor and Matt.

[best-supermassive-character]

‌Emily Davis x Jessica Riley

1. You can't tell me there's a straight explanation for their argument in the cabin. There's more sexual chemistry there than between Matt and Emily the whole game

2. bad bitches on some hot girl shit tragic best friends to enemies they just needed to kiss and make up

3. besties to girlfriends, can’t say more. they could bond again after traumatic experience why not

Ashley Brown x Chris Hartley x Josh Washington

1. personally?? personally. they just Are the best ship the seance scene single handedly conveys such an interesting and complex dynamic between the 3 of them in little under 10 minutes, tbh Every interaction they all have before shit goes down paints a picture of chemistry and friendship that could Very Easily transition into romantic it feels wrong to seperate the 3 of them into pairings... feels Unnatural

‌

Jamie Tiergan x Erin Keenan (Jerin)

1. my beloveds okay, i was in pleasant shock when saw a "young love" plot line (i didn't know anything about TDiM when i started it so didn't expect to get lesbians)

2. Jamie and Erin already have such a wonderful dynamic to begin with, having bounced around each other before taking the leap after enough flustering and teasing. They care so deeply for each other, and one losing the other is beyond heartbreaking. Erin even admits how much she doesn't want to lose Jamie, which makes my heart scream and yell and cry and oh my god

3. They're sweet, they're cute, they're canon! Supermassive finally gave us an official queer couple that can get together and Jerin deserves some recognition for that. <3

4. I mean, its Jerin! They're relationship is so cute and interesting even if they don't get together, its so clear when they don't they still very much love and adore each other and have so much more to say. And when they ARE together they are just so cute and gentle to each other. The perfect couple <3 (also they are a very rare non-white biracial lesbian couple that aren't toxic or weird so the representation they hold is just <3)

[missacidburn928]

As I look back on my writing this year, there are definitely stories of mine I've really loved. I'm honestly happy with what I accomplished.

Of them all though, I think my favorite scene to write was the opening scene from LUNATIC Chapter 3.

I'm going to share it here under the cut just because I want to 😁

The following is for the 18+ folks. Minors DNI.

“Come one! Come all! To Sins Debaucherous Carnival!” Your voice proclaims across the entryway, out into the autumn air where a line has formed as far as around the corner. The video continues, your voice entrancing the waiting patrons. 

“Tis Hallows Eve and the night is young. Prepare yourselves for a night of raucous fun! From spooky sexy skeletons, to our sirens sensual song, let your darkness be your guide as you travel the sins of the flesh we provide. Muahahaha.” 

The team, having decided to celebrate, take in the entryway and swarm of bodies as they make their way to the main stage, where your act for the night is set to begin.

The atmosphere in the club is a bit darker tonight. The lights are dimmer and the wait staff look ghoulishly delicious, in varying shades of death. They arrive at their booth and settle in, anxious to see what you have in store for the audience tonight.

El Tango de Roxanne begins to play as the curtains open and a lone red spotlight centers on a single bed. The only other light comes from a lone window, in which the shadow of a well built man can be seen.

The spotlight fades to dimmed stage lights as you enter stage left followed by August, the perfect partner for this tango of tortured love. You're dressed in a skin tight black dress with a slit up to the waist on one side. Hair loose and wild. Dark smokey makeup adorns your face as matte black stiletto nails dipped in crimson grace your fingers. August is clad in a maroon button down, black slacks and gray suspenders. Hair disheveled and a scowl on his handsome face.

Clearly an argument is happening and as the song progresses and builds the fight turns violent. You pull a switchblade from your garter and point it at August. He scoffs, determined that you wouldn't have the balls to cut him. He takes a step too close and you lash out on instinct, slashing his pectoral, ruining his shirt as blood quickly rises to the surface. 

He looks down in disbelief at the minor flesh wound. He reaches for you as you try to back away, catching your dress and ripping it from your body, exposing the black laced lingerie beneath. He tosses it to the side as you stand in shock for only a moment. That pause was all he needed to reach up and intertwine his fingers in your hair, pulling you in close to his body to dominate you with a kiss. 

You lose yourself in his power, succumbing to the scorching chemistry you’ve always had. You cant let him think he’s won once again. The time to take your power back is now. You have places to be and people depending on you. Without wasting another moment you climb him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, providing yourself enough leverage to bite down on his neck, taking him by surprise yet again. 

He walks forward until he can slam you against the wall, pinning you with his hips, dislodging you from his throat. You stare up at his darkened blue eyes, panting as you lower your hands to the bulge in his slacks, palming him once before undoing his button and zipper. Pulling him out, you give his thick length a couple strokes, spreading his leaking precum down his shaft. 

Wrapping your legs around his waist you pull him close as you tilt your hips and use your body weight to turn you around, his back now against the wall. He grabs the globes of your ass so you don’t fall as he pulls your panties to the side, allowing you to impale yourself on his rigid cock.

You begin to grind and ride him hard, unleashing all your pent up hurt and anguish on his impressive body. You hate that you ever let yourself love this man. One who thinks he can own you and control your every move. No more. It’s time for this little witch to fly. 

It's a volatile seduction of limbs and flesh. Your claws rake down his chest as he tries to get his dominance back but is thwarted by your overwhelming need to consume him. Your other hand gripping his hair and holding him where you want him as you devour his mouth.

You end up allowing him to take you to the bed. He lets you remain on top, enjoying the view. As your climax nears you wrap your small hands around his thick neck and begin choking him. He doesn't resist as he is on the precipice of his own release, that is until you both reach your end and you add pressure to his windpipe. He tries to buck you off but his efforts become weaker the longer he is deprived of oxygen until he loses consciousness. 

You remove yourself from his prone frame, fix your panties, grab a dress from the closet, and check yourself in the mirror on the wall before heading to the window. You throw it open, kissing the stranger on the balcony who pulls you through. He leans down to grab a bag at his side and proceeds to cart you away into the night. 

Lights fade to black and the audience bursts out in uproarious applause.

[reelvibes91]

Air Review

Michael Jordan became the single most recognizable athlete on the planet over the course of his basketball career. He is considered the greatest of all time by many including myself. There is no one that even comes close. You can reference so many iconic moments. 

Before all of that, Michael was once a young man who every shoe company wanted to sign. Nike was eventually the company that won his services, thanks to a man named Sonny Vaccaro who risked his entire career on the rookie.

In the film, Sonny is played by the always reliable Matt Damon in what may be my favorite performance of his career so far. Damon is an incredible actor, but here we see a character in Sonny who loves the sport of basketball and is hired for that basketball prowess. Sonny's belief in one player changed the shoe business forever. It changed the landscape of all business deals for athletes. 

The cast is an All-Star cast. Ben Affleck pulls double duty to perfection yet again. However, Viola Davis steals the show here as Deloris Jordan. She was the decision maker in the Jordan household. Michael looked to his parents throughout his life and career for inspiration and advice. The best scene in the movie is when Sonny meets with her for the first time. The dialogue felt natural, and the powerhouse performances from Damon and Davis were on full display. 

Michael Jordan is a household name, and let's not forget that his entire career occurred before the days of the internet and social media. He was this popular through word of mouth, snail mail, and newspapers just singing his praises. MJ truly changed what it means to be a brand as a person. This film captures the bond of family, the intricacies of business deals, and how trendsetters and trail blazers disrupt the entire flow of things.

Air is definitely one of my favorite movies of 2023. It is full of heart. It is old-school storytelling at its finest, and it showcased real-life footage of what MJ the man he was. It showcases a time of business and basketball before highlights were readily available. When scouting still had to be done the old-fashioned way. With the eyeball test through hours and hours of tape looking for that thing that set him apart. MJ changed his entire course by nailing a big shot in college. Sonny Vaccaro changed the world by watching that video and believing in a kid. 

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Movies don’t get much more magical than The Wizard of Oz. It’s been referenced and parodied endlessly. You’ve probably seen it dozens of times playing on TV. You know its iconic scenes by heart, but that doesn’t matter. Even decades later, the wonder has not diminished one bit.

Running away from her home after her cruel neighbor threatens her dog Toto, young Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is whisked away by a tornado to the magical land of Oz. Meeting up with a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), the newfound friends set off for the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz will grant them their fondest desires.

There’s a lot you could say about The Wizard of Oz on a technical level. The beautiful matte paintings, the costumes, the makeup, the dance choreography, the brilliant use of color contrasting the sepia-tone photography, the sheer imagination present... but dissecting the film, separating each element that works just feels wrong. When you watch this film, it’s as a whole. Every element, on-camera and off, work in such perfect unison that no single element is "the best". You can’t separate the heartfelt and sweet performance of Over the Rainbow from Judy Garland anymore than you can think about the Scarecrow without his introductory song. You may have a favorite scene, or a favorite character, but if your favorite is the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), I say you’re forgetting about the Cowardly Lion. Can't you just immediately picture the makeup effects that bring the character to life? Didn't his iconic speech pattern just pop into your head? Don’t you want to imitate it out loud? “Currage! Hrammph!” It’s a film that’s easy to surrender to. You fall in love with everything about it.

This is a sweet story with universal appeal and endless rewatch value. As a kid, you’re drawn in by Dorothy; so sweet and innocent with her little dog. As an adult, it’s a trip down memory lane to simpler times. You marvel at the technical prowess of the filmmakers and learn to truly appreciate the quality of the songs found throughout. Be careful or you’ll find yourself singing, or even dancing along with the colorful citizens of this strange world. That’s when you’re not laughing or holding back tears. There’s a certain quality about great children’s films that make them cut deeper than the deepest dramas and bring forth the biggest laughs. Dorothy may have come from Kansas, she may have grown up in a place that seems so very far away by today’s standards, but that distance is nonexistent when you’re watching.

I’d wager that a lot of people will tell you that this was the very first film they saw. It's a thought that fills me with joy. This is one of those musicals even people who don't like musicals will make an exception for. It’s a torrent of smiles flowing from the screen. The Wizard of Oz is movie magic. (On Blu-ray, September 30, 2017)

[silkentragedies]

Twilight Haze 

Misfit/gang member! Seungmin X fem! reader (mentions of gang leader! Chan X reader)

1.3k words, mentioned smut, angst

Warnings: Mentions of violence, angry/vengeful internal monologue, mentions of sex, a good amount of swearing

This piece of fiction does not reflect the actions of the real-life Stray Kids. Not meant for minors.

Playing baseball as a middle school student had blessed Seungmin with more arm strength than he knew what to do with. It was all fun and games when his coach praised his pitch in every match until he learnt of where else said arm strength could be of use. 

A killer right hook, for instance. The amount of damage he could wreak with a baseball bat, no less with barbed wire twined around it.

 As much as they were loath to admit it, the city underground cowered before a truly angry Kim Seungmin. They knew all too well about the sharp tongue and back-handed revenge that lived behind that ice-cool, whip-smart demeanor. 

Be careful around that young one, they murmured. He'll break your bike or your nose one day, there's no saying which. Or both. 

The end of his trusty baseball bat trailed on the gravel as he made his way to the abandoned warehouse that doubled as their inventory and garage. It was almost sunset, so the guys were all still out on errands while Chan and Jisung had gone on some recon mission they kept frustratingly tight-lipped about. It was the perfect time to commit a felony, especially one of the traitorous kind.

The sheer frustration that had brought him to the garage was one he would never bring himself to admit out loud. He felt the ice-cold burn slink its way down his spine, an emotion he wasn't the most familiar with taking over his actions- spite. 

His grip on the baseball bat tightened, his teeth gritted in an annoyed snarl as the root of his problems floated in front of his mind's eye, tantalizing and so, so fucking vexing. You. 

He had never been your biggest fan. You were nothing but a liability, a sitting duck, an unnecessary distraction- at least, that's what he kept saying to convince himself of your uselessness. Sadly enough, he knew that wasn't true. 

Your sharp tongue was a near competitor for his, much to his chagrin. You didn’t back down from a fight, with that glint in your eye and your hands already curled into fists. You would probably have gained his begrudging respect for the way you'd demanded trust from his brothers and settled into the misfit life almost too well, courtesy of tenacity and street smarts….If only you hadn't taken to hooking up with Chan. 

He was used to the barely muffled moans that came with the hookups that the boys indulged in every so often, the guy or girl(s) leaving immediately afterwards. What he was not used to, however, was hearing the same musical, high whimpers and throaty moans from the room next to his every night. What he was not used to, was getting impossibly horny every fucking time said sounds reached his ears, followed by quite possibly the lewdest fantasies of how he'd wring those sweet sounds out of you himself. 

What's worse, it looked like all the other guys knew of your arrangement with their leader and collectively decided to never address their (frankly, not the quietest) midnight rendezvous. 

The smallest, darkest part of him knew that the only reason he disliked you was because he could never have you- but no, he’d never admit it to himself, never act on it. You were nothing but a distraction, a pointless game, he convinced himself every time you levelled that dark gaze at him, a smirk teasing the corners of your lips. He was managing fine too, with longer night patrols and pointless flirting until-

Chan’s words the previous night came back to his mind, the leader’s normally warm, controlled tenor a feral growl- “You belong to me………... No one else, as much as you try…... You and I both know the boys won’t make a move on you because- fuck- because they know exactly whose bed you’ll crawl into at the end of the day……... Admit it, princess. I’m the only one who can fuck you right and you love that…..”

Like hell you were his. Like hell he wouldn’t make a move. Like hell-

Pulling up the overhead garage door, his eyes landed on the victim of the evening's bashing. Chan's bike was like the leader's crowning glory. It was a glorious matte black contraption, sleek and powerful and honest-to-god beautiful. Pity that it had to be damaged this way, he thought belatedly, his bat already raised for the first blow, muscles tensing and swinging, thoughtless and rough and so, so angry- 

Hit. Dented back fender.

Hit. Dented fuel tank.

Hit.  Shattered tail light. 

Each crash of the baseball bat against the smooth metal gave him a sense of cruel satisfaction that only exploded further with every second- First his bike, then his girl, then his whole fucking gang- 

"Quite a number you've done on that baby." 

Seungmin's shoulders stiffened as he swung once more, the shattered mirror crunching under his boots as he turned around. Oh, of all the fucking people-

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business, sweetheart.” He raised an eyebrow at you, the cool façade back again. You only grinned at him, that deceptive curl of your lips that made you look more innocent than he knew you were. “It would be Chan’s business, though. That’s his, isn’t it?”

Seungmin almost rolled his eyes, hefting the bat over his shoulder and turning entirely to you, the trashed motorcycle entirely forgotten. “If that wasn’t hopelessly predictable of you, I’d actually bother being scared.”

“Oh, you should be, Kim Seungmin.” you walked closer to him, slow and even. It was almost twilight, but he could clearly see the glint of your eyes in the dimming light from the garage door. “I wonder what will happen if I tell him that the only reason you trashed it was because you’ve been wanting to have your way with me.”

A shiver ran down Seungmin’s spine at the sheer ruthlessness in your light voice. For somebody new to the misfit scene, you had too much of a way with your words. Despite everything, a smirk snaked its way onto his face, his tongue running over his bottom lip as he looked you in the eye.

“I’d rather have my way with any of the other boys than you, sweetheart.” He stepped towards you, closing the distance between you even further. A beat of silence passed between the two of you, the air charged with something electric, writhing and alive. “ Besides, I have better things to think about than fucking you and Chan knows that.”

“But oh, he doesn’t.” You responded, shrugging noncommittally. Too casually. “I see the way you look at me, Seungmin. You’re not the most subtle, you know.”

“And you really believe he’d take the word of a new chick warming his bed over his brothers.” Seungmin let out an incredulous laugh, his bomber jacket rustling as he rested the end of the bat on the floor. “You’re as naïve as you look, sweetheart.”

You tilted your head, not breaking eye contact with him. “Maybe I’m naïve, but you, Seungmin, are a dirty, dirty liar.” Finally closing the space between the two of you, one of your hands snatched the bat out of his hands before sauntering to the work-bench on the garage with the bat held over your shoulder and behind your neck.

In a moment of weakness, Seungmin couldn’t help but be thrown off-guard with the ease at with you handled the baseball bat, much like it was an extension of your own arm, and how hot you looked with that leather jacket and that fucking provoking smirk on your face when you turned to sit on the bench-

“You want to kiss me so fucking bad, don’t you.”

Another word and he would likely end up doing just that- “Like you’d stop me if I said yes, sweetheart.” and you raised a single brow, the challenge brewing in your demeanour.

“Why should I?

The Seungmin brainrot that happened after watching the accursed concert VCR resulted in this whole.... situation. 🥴😂 Do let me know what you think! xoxo, A 💕

[deathonyourtongue]

Sanguine Nocturnus | 5

Summary: Even after 2000 years, the world can still surprise you. Pairing: AU!Henry Cavill x OFC Word Count: 2.7K Warnings: It’s a vampire fic. Death. Blood. Gore. Sex. Horror. Not for the kiddies or the squeamish. I mean it. A/N : Sorry this took so long. Hope y’all enjoy it!!

The night was cool, despite the sun’s remnants still radiating from the cobblestone roads like a thin blanket, the heat spreading up Henry’s legs as he and Vinicius made their way to a matte black Ashton Martin Vanquish, the car looking as though it had just rolled out of the dealership.

“Spending wisely, I see,” Henry smiled, taking in the car with an appreciation he shared with most mortal men. While it wasn’t a sturdy black stallion, it would certainly do the trick.

“It was a birthday present from Lucy, I had no say in the matter.” Vinicius answered with an equally cheeky grin, unlocking the car with a push of a button, the engine roaring to life simultaneously. It was only once the doors opened that Henry noticed Gregory sitting in the back seat, looking around anxiously, like a junkie looking for a fix.

“I’m afraid he’s still famished. Nearly emptied the vaults of A+, and yet he’s still ready to bite the first thing that moves,” Vinicius explained, nodding towards Gregory, who barely acknowledged him before turning in his seat to look over his shoulder, watching for anything that could pass as food.

“So m’lord, tonight we go hunting for your first real meal!” Vinicius announced as he looked through the rear-view mirror at Gregory.

“I’ve hunted before,” Gregory replied in a defensive, whiny tone, his gaze showing his confusion. In that moment, Henry read the young vampire’s thoughts and had to discreetly move his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. Hunting, for Gregory, had consisted of going to a nightclub and picking up the most self-conscious girl there. Their new elder hadn’t even bothered to try and pose her in a way that would keep the Carabinieri from asking questions. It was amateur at best, and Henry was certain Gregory’s victim hadn’t gone to her death in ecstasy. 

“Not the proper way. Not even close,” Henry smirked, sharing a knowing grin with Vinicius as the Vanquish sprinted out of the city center, heading North towards the vineyards.

Once clear of the light pollution, Vinicius eased his foot off the accelerator, preferring to take the two-lane roads at a more leisurely pace, something which, judging from how fidgety he was being, was pure torture for Gregory. 

“What have you lined up for us tonight, oh Master of Feasts?” Henry joked as Vinicius began to look around, watching as much for buildings as he was for the road. It didn’t take long for him to find the farmhouse, the small amount of light coming from the dwelling's windows confirming that it was a family owned vineyard they would be enjoying. Henry could hardly keep the grin off his face.

“Lesson number one, Gregory. If you are going to feed on a human, do so with discretion. Pick wisely, and choose only the sweetest of bloodlines.” Henry explained as they veered off the road and onto a gravel laneway.

“And never drink them dry. That’s the easiest way of getting ill.” Vinicius added, glaring jokingly at Henry, both having gone through the undead equivalent of the stomach flu when they were newly-turned. 

As Vinicius pressed a button on the dash, Henry heard a sudden whoosh of air spill from the tire in front of him. Briefly shocked, his smile grew into one of awe and mischief as he realized why Vinicius had kept such a present.

“You fiend! What else does this contraption do?” Henry laughed, knowing that they now had a verifiable excuse to ask for aid. Shaking his head, he could only chuckle as the car came to a slow stop and Vinicius cut the engine.

“We have a flat. Come on boys, it looks like there’s help just up the drive,” Vinicius smirked, motioning for the other two vampires to follow him.

Vinicius exhaled deeply, invigorated by the fresh blood he’d just pulled from the now-limp girl in his lap. Looking around, he found their new Elder still suckling from a hearty old man—the owner of the vineyard—and Henry looking down at the seemingly-sleeping form of the wife that he’d just drunk from.

With a sharp look to his oldest friend, Vinicius pointed out Gregory’s quickly-approaching error. Eyes narrowed, Henry waited until the last possible moment before sweeping in and yanking the man’s body out of Gregory’s grip, a move which was met with understandable hostility and a hiss of aggression. 

“I wasn’t finished!” Gregory lamented, standing and wobbling a bit as the blood coursed through his veins, shooting straight up to his head. 

“You would have been if you’d kept drinking any longer,” Henry answered, shaking his head. “If you’re lucky, you’ll get a stomach ache. If you’d kept on and tried to drink her dry, you might very well find yourself in the ground next to her…permanently.” He explained. No vampire to his knowledge had ever tried to drain a meal, but the warning had been there as long as he’d been a creature of the night, and Henry wasn’t about to take the risk of finding out when the vampire in question was the head of the Roman coven. 

“Good stock.” Henry commended Vinicius on his choice of victims, both men ignoring Gregory’s silent thoughts regarding how they could wipe out an entire family so easily. It was natural for a young vampire, especially one thrust into such an important position, to question the nature of how they came about their food. While many newly-turned preferred to stick with the donation system, those born before the 1900’s were accustomed to feeding from the source. It was imperative for Gregory to become accustomed to both, especially since he would be parlaying with the heads of other covens, most of whom expected the luxury of a fresh meal whenever meetings were held or visits were made. Though it was still too early to tell, Henry didn’t foresee Gregory’s initial reaction being any sort of hindrance to his rule. 

“Dessert is back at the house, so if you two don’t mind, we’ll be on our way.” Vinicius announced, getting up and all but throwing the poor girl to the ground, stepping over her as one would step over litter on a sidewalk as he made his way to the front door.

Gregory's fidgeting only increased on the way home, his mind filtering through both Vinicius and Henry at the speed of sound, most of them relating to food or his fear of being prosecuted for murder. The two older vampires smiled, both restraining their laughter at the new vampire's paranoia and hunger.

"Don't worry. We're untouchable." Henry smirked, allowing the thought to filter into Gregory’s mind so subtly that it would seem like his own idea. He watched in the fold-down mirror as their new Elder’s anxiety diminished, allowing him to slump back against the seat and actually relax for a moment.

Almost as soon as they arrived, Gregory was accosted by no less than six coven members, all of them offering their fealty in the form of gifts, all of them desperate to get on their new Elder’s good side, lest they incur his wrath. In a flash, he was being made comfortable; fresh blood, warmed to perfection, a luxuriant housecoat and the finest tobacco. Like any new child in a household, he was being spoiled, something which would only make Henry’s job of teaching him that much harder. It was bad enough he had to walk a newly-formed vampire through the ways of his new life; to do it with one who would be ruling over all of Italy for the next 100 years would be near-torture. 

The older he grew, the less patience he had for new vampires. Though he did his best to stay in tune with society and culture as it progressed at faster and faster speeds, having to put up with the endless questions, insatiable hunger, and now the endless fixation for social media would be trying for even the most saintly person. It was one of the many reasons he could never be convinced to sire his own fledglings. 

Finding the whole scene distasteful and feeling a touch jealous of the boy, Henry turned on his heel and headed back out into the night, his mind venturing back to a time not long after his own immortal birth, when he was still ravenous and wild.

Four years had simultaneously been an eternity and a single moment. Through it all, his hunger had never abated. Romans who dared live in the darker recesses, or outside the city gates knew to fear the creature that came unbidden in the night. The one who left nothing but terror and blood in his wake. Prayers were useless, as were offerings. Even sacrifices to the gods did nothing to keep him at bay. 

The hunger ruled his every waking hour and removed any notion of sanity, allowing him to commit unspeakable atrocities to anyone unfortunate enough to be in the domos he entered. He drank five to seven bodies’ worth a night, sometimes more if any of them were particularly small. Man, woman, child; It made no difference. They were all massacred, left in pieces, ripped limb from limb in his blind need for satiation. 

When the high of drinking his fill wore off--and it wore off quickly--Herminius inevitably found himself sickened by what he’d done. Many tears were shed over the corpses of those he’d sent to Charon, a litany of apologies whispered over bits of hair and skin before the hunger invariably took over once more, the ache in his belly unquellable.

Night after night, he scoured his birthplace, looking for those who were already near death’s door, those too feeble to cause a scene when his teeth sank into their flesh. More often than not, their blood did little to satisfy, and he would be forced to find a family of young, healthy, Romans to feast upon. It was a vicious, never-ending cycle that Herminius thought would be nearly impossible to break. At his most desperate, he attempted to end his existence, but not a single method he attempted did anything other than temporarily open his immortal vessel. 

When it became clear that Rome was no longer a safe haven, Herminius wormed his way into the hull of a ship heading for Alexandria. By the time it reached the Pearl of the Mediterranean, he was the sole inhabitant of the vessel. Though he’d learned some restraint on the voyage, being in a new city seemed only to amplify his need for blood.

Herminius had only been in Alexandria a few nights when Caesar’s men--his former brothers--set the port alight, maligning any chance of him returning to his beloved Rome without further risk to his life. His maker had only taught him one lesson, and it was one which made travel nearly impossible for one such as himself:

The sun is your death. 

Homesick and famished, Herminius watched as the library of the great jewel burned along with the port, the vast knowledge turned to mere ash by the carelessness of men he’d once fought alongside of. He wondered if any of his brothers had given any thought to what they were doing or, if like him, they’d thrown themselves headlong into the task with blind fury. Though they were now two very different animals, seeing the glee on their faces eased his guilt some; at the base level, all people were bloodthirsty creatures.

His hunger eased some that night at hearing the cries of anguish from learned men who were forced to watch as their life’s work disappeared before their eyes. By the time the fire was extinguished, nearly half the library had been engulfed, tiny scraps of papyrus floating through the air like the snow in Gaul that had so marveled some of his brothers.

He drank from only one soul that night, that of a young prostitute. Unlike the madness of meals past, where anger and desire coursed through him in equal measure, this time, Herminius sought only to drink and enjoy the nubile woman beneath him. For the first time, he heard the sweet music of pleasure come from his prey, her body writhing, begging him for more. Piercing her neck with his teeth as he pierced her core with his cock, Herminius made the girl sing. Her slim figure trembled in his arms as he slowly drank, fingers pressing her down until he felt the familiar ripple of delight sprint its way up her back. 

She took no note of the blood streaming down her neck as he moved his lips down to her small breast, nipping gently until he found the perfect place once more. Sinking his teeth in brought another moan from the girl, Herminius smiling as he drank what little there was left of her. Her final breath came as he spilled his impotent seed, unlatching from her breast just as she went limp in his arms. 

Setting the girl down, Herminius covered her and quietly slipped out the window, feeling solace for the first time since he himself was bitten.

A few patrons still lingered at Romulus when he entered, and though it was accidental, Henry couldn’t help but feel some satisfaction when his scowl had them all scampering for their belongings, not one of them making eye contact as they headed for the door. 

“Wow, you sure know how to clear a room,” the bartender smirked as she dried a row of shot glasses, unphased by her other customers’ quick exits. 

“It’s a gift,” Henry murmured, taking a seat in front of her, still feeling the barbs of anger pushing into every fiber of his being. 

“Long night?” She asked, ducking her head a bit to try and catch his gaze. Henry finally looked up, feeling the edge begin to dull on his mood as he was met with a warm, open smile. 

“You could say that. Glass of the old stuff with a splash of bourbon, if you please,” Henry requested, jerking his chin towards the wall behind her, pointing at the bottles of Sanguinem that held a place of high regard among the other booze.

“You and your buddies are real fond of this stuff, huh? I’m not sure I get the appeal,” Carla chuckled, shaking her head as she got everything ready to go. 

“There’s a certain…generation of us that grew up having sips of it. It became an old habit.” Henry explained, giving her a wink, his smile growing as he saw a blush flood Carla’s cheeks.

He fell silent as he watched her prepare the drink, intrigued when Carla took a shot of the sanguinem before looking over her ingredients. Eyes narrowed, she chose carefully. Henry was hooked as he watched her light a few Cloves until they smoked, quickly turning what he assumed would be his glass over the smoldering herb and a sprig of Thyme before allowing the glass to cloud with the white plume. In her shaker, she put the sanguinem and his requested shot of bourbon, sprinkling cinnamon on top before shaking it up, knowing better than to add ice, as she’d yet to see any of the patrons who ordered it ask for it on the rocks. Finally, she turned the glass over, quickly pouring the drink into it and trapping the smoke in amongst the alcohol. 

“I present to you, the Caligula. Get it, ‘cause the sanguinem tastes like blood?” She beamed, taking a joking bow before watching Henry take his first sip. 

Before he could even let the liquid touch his tongue, the scene brought him back to the Rome of old, Henry’s eyes closing of their own volition as he drank. Savoring it, he did his best not to swoon, memories of meals past coming back as though he’d just finished them, the flavor bringing back with it memories that actually made him smile. 

When he finally came to, Henry’s expression had softened into one of wonder and appreciation. Staring into Carla’s eyes, he felt something he had felt in ages; attraction. Without allowing his mind to crawl into the decrepit place it usually went when it came to any sort of relationship outside of friendship, Henry let his mouth and heart do the work. 

“Carla,” he read her name tag, “my name is Henry, and you, bellissima, have just created the only way I’ll take this drink for the rest of my life.”

[myhahnestopinion]

THE AARONS 2020 - Best TV Show

It was prime time for TV in 2020, with many more free hours to fill. I managed to get through a lot of my backlog in fact, finally getting around to watching shows like The Strain. It’s a show about a deadly disease that tears society apart because a lot of arrogant people think they are exempt from quarantining. The disease turns people into vampires, so it’s technically escapism. Here are the Aarons for Best TV Show: 

#10. The Plot Against America (Miniseries) - HBO

It’s not TV, it’s not HBO, it’s real life. The Wire-creator David Simon’s penchant for illustrating the human fallout of institutional failures made him a perfect collaborator for HBO’s Plot Against America, an adaptation of Phillip Roth’s alternate-history novel. Following a Jewish family in New Jersey navigating the increasingly-fascist America of a hypothetical Charles Lindbergh administration, the show is a terrifying warning of what happens when hatred and conspiracy theories are allowed to accumulate political force. Notably, while the book ends with history back on the right track, the closing moments here are left ambiguous. The show was a limited series, but in many ways, The Plot Against America is ongoing.

#9. Mrs. America (Miniseries) - FX

Its interests are married to The Plot Against America, but Mrs. America traces the country’s rising extremism from a more historically accurate perspective. The miniseries centers on political activists in the 1970s on opposing sides of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment, but its dialogue isn’t a strict dichotomy. The episodic format is expertly utilized to build out intersectional ideas from the likes of Rose Byrne’s Gloria Steinem, Uzo Aduba’s Shirley Crisholm, and Margo Martindale’s Bella Abzug, detailing the difficulties in building a diverse coalition, and the dangers of a single-minded one. Drawing parallels to current debates, its compelling centerpiece is how conservative Phylis Shafley (Cate Blanchett) successfully defeats the Amendment; voting against your own self-interests, Mrs. America says, is as American as apple pie.

#8. The Outsider (Miniseries) - HBO

Societal collapse comes from within in the two shows mentioned above, but the threat in HBO’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 2018 novel is decidedly an “other.” King clearly had his mind on modern manipulations of truth when crafting the ingenious premise: a man is arrested for the murder of two young boys due to irrefutable DNA evidence, only to provide an air-tight alibi for the crime. To match King’s procedural prose, HBO brought on The Night Of’s David Price, who layers the original work with meticulous mysteries. The Outsider has all the pulpy jolts expected of the author, but the show’s true horror lies in its overbearing grief, best brought to life by Ben Mendelsohn’s Detective Anderson. To say more would be to spoil its secrets; you’ll want to be on the inside.

#7. Perry Mason (Season 1) - HBO

Just like the famous fictional attorney, HBO can’t seem to lose, with Perry Mason marking its third entry on this list. The reimagining of the long running court drama actually takes place before the character’s illustrious law career; here he’s a down-on-his-luck private eye caught up in a scandalous child kidnapping case. The result’s a gangbusters production of old-fashioned moody noir: political corruption, femme fatales, and a more morally-complicated Mason, as played by The Americans’ Matthew Rhys. The lavish period details and character-actor cast, including Shea Whigham, John Lithgow, and Tatiana Maslany, will help draw viewers in, but, I’ll confess, I was already hooked by the season’s chilling opening moments.

#6. Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (Season 1) - NBC

Dour seasons have dominated this list thus far, but Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist sings a different tune. It’s a lovably oddball premise: an accident during an MRI causes a young woman, played by Jane Levy, to hear other people’s thoughts in the form of popular music. It’s all karaoke, but, emphasized by the presence of Skylar Astin, a worthy inheritor to Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s musical-comedy crown. The tracklist, workplace antics, and love-triangle drama all exist in a comfortingly familiar network TV realm, but the show takes additional steps for inclusion with stories highlighting Zoey’s genderfluid neighbor (Alex Newell) and an American Sign Language performance of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song.” During a year in need of shuffling off stress, there was no better time to queue up Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.

#5. What We Do in The Shadows (Season 2) - FX

FX’s expansion of the mockumentary feature film of the same name lit up some of the darker corners of its universe in the show’s second season, transforming mundane-seeming material into something completely, uniquely batty. Each creature of Shadows took their turn in the spotlight this season, from a middle-management promotion gifting energy-vampire Colin Robinson unlimited supernatural power, to undead Nadja befriending a doll possessed by her own ghost, to Matt Berry’s Lazlo forging a small-town persona as a bartender/volleyball coach to escape a vengeful Mark Hamill. As always, it was the sympathetic Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), a Van Helsing descendent desperate to become a vampire, who gave the show its emotional stakes, and the vampires within a different kind altogether.

#4. Stargirl (Season 1) - DC Universe

Shadows was lit, but few things burned brighter this year than Stargirl (perhaps too brightly for the flamed-out DC Universe). The superhero drama is one of several that will outlive its original streaming service - fitting, given its obsession with legacy. Based on a character created by DC Comics stalwart Geoff Johns after the tragic loss of his sister, the show finds a young girl taking on the mantle of a fallen hero after moving to a town run in secret by supervillains. With sprightly fight choreography and an unabashed embrace of its comic book lore, Stargirl outshines the overabundance of small-screen superheroes out there. Its highlight is the bright performance of lead Brec Bassinger; put simply, she’s a star, girl.

#3. BoJack Horseman (Season 6b) - Netflix

Throughout its run, BoJack Horseman garnered acclaim for routinely delivering unexpected pathos, and the final season kept it on that track until the end. ...Get it, because horses run on tracks? The unexpected porter of television’s legacy of antiheroes ended in much the same vein as its sister shows - with consequences finally catching up with its protagonist. No amount of fanciful animal puns could soften that painful catharsis, as the show finally trampled its tricky web of abuse through bittersweet means. The series closed out with an especially thoughtful scene, the kind viewers who looked past the wonky pilot years ago were regularly blessed with; to the very end, BoJack, you were a gift, horse.

#2. Better Call Saul (Season 5) - AMC

As good as Bad ever was and better than ever before, the fifth season of AMC’s spin-off completely upended the world of its eponymous lawyer while bringing Vince Gilligan’s universe one step away from full-circle. Saul Goodman found himself in way over his head, and viewers found themselves way on the edge of their seats, as his first foray into “criminal” lawyering swiftly dovetailed with an escalating drug war. Despite the emotional distress of watching fan-favorite character Kim Wexler placed in perilous situations, there are no objections to be had with the drama’s continued masterful storytelling. Ramping up the slow-burn storytelling, season five saw Kim and Saul’s relationship develop in rich and unexpected ways, while still keeping their final fates unresolved. Fans are thus waiting with bated breath for the show’s final call next year. 

#1. The Great (Season 1) - Hulu

Who could be the best but The Great? There was a minor television controversy this year over Netflix marketing The Crown as a historical drama despite its fictional interpretation of events; The Great has no such pretentions. An asterix adorns every title card of the show, letting viewers know that its take on Catherine the Great’s coup against Emperor Peter III of Russia is only “an occasionally true story.” The show indeed is not great for education, but it’s the most entertaining television of the year, locking stars Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult in a battle of wits and a fight for the country’s soul under the watch of The Favourite co-writer Tony McNamara. The uproarious comedy slyly collates leadership based in cruelty with leadership based in goodwill in the background of its quite bawdy escapades, a subtle bit of relevant political maneuvering that lets it successfully claim the crown this year.

NEXT UP: THE 2020 AARONS FOR BEST TV EPISODE!

[dissident-vedder]

- fame ( 𝐄.𝐕. )

ADD YOURSELF TO MY TAGLIST!

you are a famous child actor that eddie has had a crush on ever since he could remember. now that you are a young woman in your twenties filming for the movie 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑠, maybe it was fate that brought you two together.

A/N - layout by @adoresobs​!  i don’t know, this may suck.

acting had been your passion. ever since you were five years old, you graced the screens of many tvs and movie theaters, going from playing an artist’s daughter on sesame street in 1973 to one of the older orphaned teenagers on the musical annie to a lifeguard on baywatch. your character on the show was taken off due to filming conflicts; they had written her so she got an opportunity to go to college with a full-ride scholarship. all throughout your nineteen-year acting career, young eddie had watched every movie and show you were in, his crush on the [y/r] woman that glorified every monitor you were on.

when he was nine years old, he began rewatching sesame street just because you were on it. his friends at school made fun of him, but they just didn’t understand. they didn’t understand his need to see you on his tv screen, to hear you speak. he began watching baywatch when it came out in 1989 just because he heard you were on it. and he was mesmerized by the way your body fit into that swimsuit, the way you looked so perfect when you ran despite them always putting it in slow motion, the way your hair bounced everytime your foot made contact with the sand. he was in love with every inch of you.

in 1991, when he heard that you were no longer going to be on baywatch, he was disheartened. his favorite actress saving people after they did something he loved to do was addicting to him. he longed to be in their spot. but then he heard that it was due to filming conflicts, and knew immediately that it was because you had other things coming out. when he and his band released their debut album, ten, he hoped it got big enough for them have their names be heard around the world. he hoped you listened to their music, hoped that you loved his voice and the lyrics he wrote, loved the music videos.

close to his birthday in 1991, he heard that you had an interview with david letterman, and he was going to watch it. he had to. he flipped to the channel it was on and waited for you to come onstage. when you were introduced by letterman, the audience cheered as you walked out onstage in a black loose minidress with spaghetti straps, your hair done in the latest style as you waved to the camera, smiling widely as you got nearer to letterman and gave him a hug. it was short, quick, and you say down immediately once the two of you pulled away. the interview went on as usual, david asking you if you had any upcoming projects, you answering them vaguely, and you recounting stories from the photos he showed, laughing at the funny bits, blushing when you got to an embarrassing detail that involved you, and nodding to show you understood the question you were being asked. “have you been eyeing anybody as of now?” letterman asked. “you’ve been single since you debuted in acting back in 1973, and now you are a twenty-three year old woman, and no sign of a lover!” the audience chuckles at him.

“um. . .” you laugh a little. “i haven’t been seeing anybody, i’m a busy person, so i don’t have much time even for myself, let alone somebody else. but god. . .” you rubbed your elbow, a telltale sign you were a bit nervous. “eddie vedder from the band pearl jam is really cute. i wouldn’t mind meeting him.”

“that’s who your eyeing?” letterman asks. you nod, and eddie feels his heart swell in his chest. you knew who he was. you knew his band, you listened to him, watched his interviews. “yeah,” you defend, “i like energetic guys with blue eyes and long brown hair. he’s cute.” someone in the audience whistles and cheers, causing you to laugh. “he is! i’d love to meet him someday.” eddie’s palms begin to sweat, his eyes widen and he begins breathing heavily. he was your type. you liked him.

“have you listened to their album?”

“i’m sorry?” You turn your attention back to letterman.

“have you listened to pearl jam’s album?”

“yes, i have!” you nod. “it’s amazing!”

“what’s your favorite song?” letterman organizes the pile of notes in his hand, the rhythmic sound of the pat, pat, pat sounding loudly through eddie’s tv speaker. you click your tongue, leaning back in your chair, hands holding on to the armrests.

“oh, god, that’s hard,” you thought for a moment. “it’s a tie between oceans, garden, and black.” your hands tap against the rests three times — left, right, left. “it’s hard to choose, he’s got such a dreamy voice!” you chuckle, trying to calm yourself down as the small weepings of your crush begin to come out of you. they’ve done some interviews for their album and a few live shows, which you’ve watched as much as you could in order to see the frontman, loving the way he was so energetic and full of happiness.

the rest of the interview went by in a blur for you and eddie, and he went to bed, your face imprinted on the backs of his eyelids as he fell asleep.

a few short months had passed before eddie and the rest of the band were asked to come on-set to act out their very few scenes, not knowing who else, other than matt dillon and chris cornell, were going to be there. you were off-camera, readjusting your jean jacket sleeves as matt and the others were getting ready for the restaurant scene. eddie was sitting across from matt, on the edge of the seat, sharpie in hand as he listened to what jeff was reading about the fictional band, citizen dick. you noticed him, hair tucked behind his right ear as he said one of his only lines, “a compliment for us, is a compliment for you.”

cliff, matt’s character, begins to object, when you were given the clue to get on-set and sit next to matt, as you were playing his childhood friend, ruby. eddie’s face showed momentary shock as you sat on matt’s left thigh — as was scripted — and took a sip of the coffee from his cup. “i’m guessing you all read the news article about you, huh?” you restated the line you read over and over in your home and in the dressing room, your arms crossing in front of you and you begin leaning on them, forearms pressed against the wood.

“yeah,” matt placed his hand on your hip, sensing that you had gotten a little wobbly and was making sure you didn’t fall. “this negative energy just makes me stronger.” you chortle into the cup, “sure.”  the watch your character wore began beeping, alerting you to act as if you were rushing. “i have to go, see you all later!” a chorus of deep, male, “bye!” follows you as you walked over to the diner’s door and walk out. the director yelled out, “cut!” and all of you knocked out of character.

standing in line to grab a quick lunch, you eyed the crowd, in search of the frontman of the grunge band, quickly recognizing him by his bandmates, his blue eyes frantically looking around. once he spotted you looking at him, his cheeks flare up, heat rushing into them as he looked back to his friends. he wanted to come up to you and talk, but he was just too shy, too flustered to make any real conversation, let alone any small talk. if only he had the confidence one of his former classmates had, then he would make conversation, ask you out on a date and just overall be with you. noticing his hesitation, you planned to talk to him later when he was away from his bandmates just so he was at ease in some form and they weren’t around to make fun of him; you could at least do that much for him. 

“eddie!” you called out as he walked away from your direction, not noticing you sitting on one of the couches in the lounge area, standing up from the comfortable cushion to make your way over to him. he paused midstep, recognizing your voice instantly, heartrate picking up at the thought of you talking to him, hearing your footsteps coming closer to him. clenching his hands in his jacket pockets, he takes a deep breath before facing you, blue eyes wide as he eyes your figure coming closer to him, a reassuring smile sketched on your lips. “are you alright? you look a little nervous,” you stated, eyebrows furrowing as you noticed the somewhat deep breaths the frontman took.

“yeah,” he blushes deeper. “y-yeah, i’m fine.” he clears his throat. “what are you doing here?” 

“i work here,” you chuckle lowly, crossing your arms across your chest. “but are you okay, really? remember, i’m an actress. i can tell when someone is acting or not.”

so you saw through his lie, he noted. “um. . . i’m just nervous to be around you, that’s all.”

“why?”

“’cause he has a crush on you, that’s why!” mike’s voice calls out through the studio, causing eddie’s blush to become deeper and to spread across his ears, his head bowing to hide his face. 

“really?”

a nod. you took a step forward, reaching forward to take the cook county native’s face in your hands, moving it so it faced you, a small smile on your lips, reassuring and warm. “you want to take this somewhere your bandmates wouldn’t interfere?” 

another nod.

“okay, come on,” you took his hand in yours, leading him through the many corridors and crew members to what was your dressing room, a private place that was rare nowadays. “sit anywhere you’d like.” there was the makeup chairs you sat in every single day, multiple times a day, a sofa in the corner of the room, and a director’s chair with your last name stamped onto the back. he took the sofa, hearing you lock the door behind you, giving you and him more privacy. “i’m sorry your friend did that,” you said as you made your way to the makeup chair, one foot still on the floor while the other was resting on the crosshatched wood pieces between the legs of the chair. you did it to give him the space he possibly needed, but to eddie, it seemed like you were avoiding him. his heart broke even more. 

“i should’ve expected that, if i’m being honest,” he chuckled, trying to get rid of the embarassment that settled deep in his bones, but you still saw the blush that was slowly creeping away. 

“they still had no right to do that,” with this, you stand up, make your way across the room, and sit down next to him, taking his hand in yours. they were warm; rough at the fingertips at the many years of playing guitar. you could feel the small calluses that were healing, the small imprints of the guitar strings, telling you that he had been playing recently, locked away in some small room. you sighed, “today is your last day here on set. i didn’t get to spend enough time to know you, but i got to talk to your bandmates.”

he nods, “yeah, i guess time works in mysterious ways.”

“but it doesn’t have to. how about i take you out to dinner?”

shocked, his head snaps up, peering into your [y/e/c] eyes, round and hopeful. “really?” you nod, laughing when you see his smile widen. “yes, really.”

“i’d love to!”

TAGLIST:

@stateofloveandvedder​ @state-of-love-and-lust​ @honeysympathy​ @grossgold​ @sea-sxns​ @d-arknecessities

[let-me-love-you-loki]

Behind the Scenes

A/N: This is the 1000 Followers Celebration prize winner story for @merchfreak. I hope it’s everything you wanted!

I both loved and hated those moments when the Young Bucks and I were across the ring from each other. They were these wonderful snapshots of their energy and talent, of watching them feed on the crowd and work seamlessly with Adam and Kenny. But they were torture because I had to root against them. I had to pull dirty tricks and interfere and distract.

           It came with the job of being Sammy Guevara’s valet and on-screen girlfriend.

           Sammy and I… we went way back. We trained together. We worked the indies together. We even did a short stint in WWE developmental together. Sammy dipped out after a month or two. I stuck it out until I realized I didn’t quite have the look—meaning I wasn’t a tall busty blonde bombshell. No, there wasn’t much of a place in the cookie-cutter cog machine of the WWE for petite, brown haired, brown eyed Melody Park.

           I went back to the indies for a while. Then, one day, Sammy called and said he’d shared some of my tapes with this new promotion he was working with. They wanted to offer me a contract. I signed without hesitation, spent a few months on AEW Dark, and finally debuted on Dynamite as part of the Inner Circle with Sammy. I’d rediscovered my love of wrestling and of wrestling with my best friend.

           And, well, I’d also discovered something else. Someone else.

           Nick freaking Jackson. The youngest Young Buck. Executive Vice President. SoCal dude. Dork. And just all-around amazing guy.

           Too bad it was almost impossible to actually date. Even without having to keep up kayfabe, most of the fans were convinced that Sammy and I were together for real since we were real-life roommates.

           We were in the run up to a huge event—a war games blood and guts match—between the Inner Circle and the Elite. The past few weeks had been packed with desperate singles and tag team matches—street fights, no DQ bouts, sneak attacks backstage and at ringside. I’d done my part to cause trouble for The Elite, and I was quite proud of my work. Particularly when it came to Nick.

           As hard as he would try to ignore me, I was more than capable of getting his attention and keeping it. I was surprised at how simple it was really. Each week, every segment, I came out in my fashionably slashed and knotted Inner Circle tee—or some of Sammy’s merch, I was newly fond of the Le Sex Gods shirt—and my Daisy Dukes, curls bouncing and makeup perfectly highlighting my bright brown eyes.

           Thank God for Penelope Ford. She’d given me a master class in seductive distraction.

           Case in point… it was a tag match. The Elite versus Proud and Powerful and Sammy. My on-screen beau was in the ring, grappling with Matt Jackson. Kenny was laid out on the floor somewhere, and Nick was waiting in the face corner, leaning over the rope to reach for his brother. With Kenny out of the way and Matt being smacked around in the heel corner, dear sweet Baby Buck was ripe for the picking.

           I strolled around the side of the ring, blowing a kiss into the camera as I walked by. I put a little bit of sashay into my hips as I stroked my fingers along the ring apron. Nick bounced up and down, wiggling his fingers for the tag. I stopped a foot or so away and appraised him with a long look from his boots all the way up to his hair. My shoulders bobbed in a shrug and I plastered an I could do worse expression on my face.

           Keeping an eye on what was going on in the ring, I climbed up onto the apron and struck a pose—hands on my hips, weight on one leg, the other bent at the knee. I cleared my throat loud enough that the front row could hear.

           Nick glanced up then back to the ring. Then… right back to me. His ice blue eyes swept over me, an angry yet appreciative expression taking over his face.

           I licked my lips and looked him up and down. “Like what you see, Nick?” I asked, putting emphasis on his name.

           His expression tipped into intrigued yet annoyed. “What are you doing, Mels? Get outta my corner!” He shooed me away with a flick of his wrist.

           I smiled, pleased to have already drawn his attention from the match. My feet carried me toward him, and I reached out to stroke my fingertips up his forearm to his bicep. His gaze shifted from my hand on his arm to my face. He gasped a breath and licked his lips.

           I chanced a quick glace at the match. Matt had broken away from Sammy and Santana and was crawling toward his brother. Sammy was clawing himself right behind, reaching for the elder Jackson’s ankle to drag him back. It would be a perfect, dramatic moment for a hot tag.

           Too bad they aren’t getting one, I thought as I skimmed my hand up behind his neck and dragged him close, planting my lips against his. My fingers threaded into his hair, holding him in place. For a second, he was startled. Then, as if he couldn’t help himself, he slipped one hand against the back of my head and let the other settle on my hip. He kissed me back—chaste as it was—and my entire body tingled.

           I opened my eyes just a little, just enough to see that Matt had made it to the corner but found that his partner was occupied. Sammy and Santana grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him back to our side. The moment they had Matt subdued, I planted my palms on Nick’s shoulders and pushed him away.

           Before he could say anything, I hopped down from the apron and scurried back to the Inner Circle corner. Thankfully—and perfectly planned—Referee Bryce didn’t see a thing.

***

           “Beautiful work out there, Mels,” Sammy said as he leaned against the wall backstage to catch his breath. “Nick looked like he was going to pass out.”

           I gave an exaggerated curtsey and grinned. “It was absolutely my pleasure to distract Nicky Blue Eyes for you.”

           My friend laughed and ran a hand over his sweaty hair. “If the cameras hadn’t been on, you’d have really stuck your tongue down his throat.”

           My eyes rolled so far back into my head that I thought they’d get stuck. I felt the faint flutter of my heart in my chest. The memory of kissing Nick Jackson in front of thousands of people made a bolt of electricity run through my body. It was a delicious ache that settled behind my ribs and spread through my limbs. I shrugged and lifted a brow. “I’d do more than that.”

           Sammy opened his mouth to reply, but something caught his eye over my shoulder. I followed the line of his gaze and saw Nick standing in the center of the hallway on the other side of the entrance tunnels, his arms crossed over his bare chest. His eyes were locked on me. His stance commanding and intimidating. There was a faint, mischievous smirk on his lips.

           He held out his hand and crooked his index and middle fingers in a come here gesture. Then he turned his hand over, using those same fingers to indicate that I needed to come here to this exact spot right in front of me now. Heat licked the base of my spine.

           “I think Nicky Blue Eyes is looking for you,” Sammy said, his voice low and teasing. “And he looks a little… frustrated.”

           I punched him in the arm. “Shut up, Sammy.”

           Nick quirked a brow, the mischief on his face turning a little darker. I moved toward him like he was a magnet dragging me closer. His blue eyes locked onto mine as I closed the space between us. He ran a hand back over his hair, lifting it from his neck and shoulders.

           When I got within a few feet, I could see the sweat darkening his hairline and settling along the slope of his collarbones and the hollow of his throat. He worked at the gum between his teeth, drawing my attention to the curves and muscles of his jaw. My heart picked up with the heady scent of him—sweat and the smell that was incomparably him—as he stepped into my personal space. Heat radiated off him, seeping into my skin.

           “What’s up, Nick?” I said slowly, doing my best to remember Penelope’s lessons. My voice dropped just a little and I tilted my head, tossing my hair over my shoulder.

           He popped the gum between his front teeth, looking almost as if he were pursing his lips for a kiss. His brow shot up, blue eyes twinkling with mischief tinged with mirth. “Still playing coy, Melody?”

           There was something dark in his voice that made a shiver run down my spine. I felt my lips curl up, and I looked up at him with what I was certain were dark doe eyes. “You don’t know what I’m playing, Jackson.”

           Nick closed his eyes and leaned his head back. I watched him breathe deeply and took a little joy in knowing that I got to him. It was part of this back-and-forth that we had—never quite saying or doing exactly what we wanted to. The longer I looked, the more I realized that Sammy was right. Nick looked more frustrated than I’d ever seen him. It was a heady thing to know I was the cause.

           After a moment, he looked down at me again. This time, I couldn’t ignore the heat that burned behind the sweet blue of his irises. Without a word, he took me by the wrist and pulled me down the hallway. I rushed to keep up with his longer stride. His grip was strong and firm, but not enough to hurt. My heart beat a rhythm behind my ribs, pulsing until I was sure it was going to burst through my chest.

           Nick walked right by the EVP dressing room. Past hospitality, the medics, the costumers, Tony’s office. Far away from the general men and women’s locker rooms. After what felt like forever, he shoved the door of a room open and nearly dragged me in behind him. The door shut behind me with a deep finality.

           It was dark. The weren’t any windows, so I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. But I could sense Nick nearby. I could still smell the scent of his skin and feel the heat of his body. The blackened silence seemed to heighten those senses. It made my body tingle from head to toe.

           Time stretched out. It compressed into this single moment that seemed to pass in a flash. It was too long and yet not long enough. My breath quickened as I waited, standing somewhere in the darkened room, listening, and sensing around me for Nick.

           I licked my lips, ready to say his name. But before I could, his hands slipped up my arms and cradled my neck in his fingertips. His thumbs pressed into the soft spot beneath my chin, forcing my face to tilt upward. I took a breath, drunk on him, and opened my eyes wide, trying to make out his shape in the darkness. My hands pushed into the space around me, searching… finally brushing against warm, smooth flesh. Flattening my palms, I felt the curve of his ribs.

           “What are—” The full question didn’t make it out before his mouth was on mine. I let out a faint gasp of surprise as he tilted my head, taking control. His tongue swept along my lips. His thumbs pressed against my chin almost painfully.

           Almost as soon as it began, it ended. Nick stepped away and cold air rushed into the space where his body had been. Goosebumps prickled along my skin. I took a step back, glad to come up against the wall. My knees felt like they were about to buckle beneath me.

           “That was for that stunt you pulled out there,” he growled out from somewhere to my left. I heard the barely suppressed emotion in his words. My blood pounded in my ears.

           I whimpered a little as I let the wall hold my weight. “Just doing my job,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

           Within an instant, he was there, his body pressing me back against the wall. His knee slipped between mine as his fingers caught my wrists and pinned them next to my head. The cool cinderblock of the wall was a heady contradiction to the heat of his skin and muscle.

           His nose brushed against my neck as he leaned in, putting his mouth close to my ear. “We both know you were doing more than that, Mels.” He dragged my hand from the wall and pressed my palm against the front of his pants. Reflexively, instinctively, my hand curved against the length of his hardening cock. He hissed. “See what you did?”

           I felt my lips curve upward, boldness rising within my blood. “Not my fault you can’t control yourself, Jackson.” I rubbed my palm against his cock, my grin getting broader when he let out a low moan. “Not my fault that any girl in some short shorts gets you going.”

           Nick snarled and jerked my hand back up, pinning it once again against the wall. His mouth traveled up my throat, leaving warm open-mouthed kisses along my flesh. “Hmm, that’s where you’re wrong,” he growled into my ear. His knee wedged my legs wider until his thigh pressed against my core. I bit down on my lip to hold back the whimper that built in my chest. “The only girl in short shorts that gets me going is you. I can’t control myself because of you, Mels.”

           I struggled for a moment, trying to get my hands free. Nick’s grip wasn’t painful, but it was enough to keep me under his control. He pressed his cheek against mine and chuckled darkly. The heat of his body made me feel like I was burning up from the inside out. I licked my lips, gasping a breath that overwhelmed me with the scent of him. I thrashed again and my hips rocked hard, sending a shower of sparks through my center. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a wet spot on his gear when he moved.

           I moaned despite myself.

           “There we go,” Nick purred against my throat. He draped one of my arms around his neck and used the free hand to slide up beneath my shirt. His fingertips ghosted over my ribs and tugged on the laces that held the front of my gear top together. “Can you make that sound for me again?”

           His teeth nipped at my shoulder as he threw my other arm around his neck. With both hands free, he dug his fingers into the slashes in my shirt and ripped the fabric until it hung from my shoulders in tatters. He dipped his head, swirling his tongue around my nipple as his hands traveled lower, working the button of my shorts free. The moment they slid down my thighs, Nick’s hand pushed between my legs. His fingers sought out and found my clit, circling and teasing it until I moaned and rocked my hips against his touch.

           Like a maestro, he played my body perfectly. I teetered on the edge of oblivion, so close to release. Nick pulled away just before my orgasm burst through me. I whimpered in frustration, my fingers digging into his shoulders. He took a step back, and I wished I could see him.

           “Get those off,” he ordered. I kicked my shorts and underwear away, struggling for a moment to get them over my shoes. I toed off the sneakers and stood barefoot in front of him, clad only in my open gear top and the shredded remains of my Inner Circle shirt. There was a rattle, the sound of a buckle being undone.

           “Turn around,” Nick said firmly.

           Almost as soon as I’d complied, Nick’s hands skimmed down my back and settled on my hips. He tugged me back toward him, and I knew what he wanted. I pressed my palms against the wall and pushed myself back. I heard his sigh as he curved his body over mine. His lips pressed against the back of my neck as he guided his cock into position.

           To his surprise, I didn’t give him the chance to push forward. Instead, I pushed myself back onto his cock. I groaned low in my chest as he bottomed out, stretching me until I could hardly keep the whimpers at bay.

           “Hmm, that’s how it is,” Nick practically snarled against my neck. He slipped one arm around my hip, fingers searching and circling my clit. His hips snapped hard against me. The other arm cupped my breast, squeezing the flesh and rolling my nipple between his fingers. “Come on, Mels. I can feel it. You’re holding back.”

           He pulled me up, flush against his chest, his voice snarling in my ear, demanding my climax. His fingers brushed my clit in just the right way, and I fell apart. I tumbled over the edge of my orgasm, nearly collapsing in his arms. Nick didn’t stop, his hips continuing to slam into me, prolonging my pleasure as he chased his own.

           A moment later, his body tensed, and he growled against the side of my neck. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he laughed. It was a warm, sweet sound that flooded my body with a different kind of heat.

           “God, I love you, Mels,” he said with a smile against my shoulder. “But please, for my sake, don’t do that again.”

Tag List

@merchfreak @mox-made-me-do-it​ @not-that-kinda-gurl08​ @lilred91​

[sofiaisqueen2004]

“I’m gonna need the suit back”-P.P *TH*

*I wrote this three years ago so sorry if it’s cringey!

Summary-Peter does something reckless that costs him his job.

Warnings-Slight Violence

*Spider-Man/ Peter Parker's POV*

I can't believe I split the boat open in half....what the HELL was going through my head. How could I be stupid enough to split the whole freaking Ferry in half with about 100 people on it! I was just trying to be like Mr.Stark. And yet it got me fired, got my suit taken away, and I lost my girlfriend...

[Long Flashback] (My bad for it being so long)

"Who's that guy on the left." I asked my A.I. that was in my suit. I looked down to a group of 3 men.

"Matt Gargon. Extensive criminal record, including homicide. Would you like me to activate instant kill?" Karen responded.

"N-no! Stop it with the instant kill already!" I yelled. I listened in on what the group of men were saying.

"White pickup truck." A guy with a denim jacket said.

Another guy with tattoos all over his neck signaled to another guy to go into where all the cars were.

"Droney, scan the ship for a white pickup truck." I signaled my spider drone.

I saw what my drone saw and smiled, "This is too perfect! They got the weapons, the buyers, and the seller all in ONE place!"

Karen interrupted me, "Incoming call from Tony Stark"

I started to panic, "No, no, no, no! Don't answer!"

Mr.Starks face popped up on my screen in my suit, "Mr.Parker. Got a sec?"

"Uhh, no i-i'm actually at s-school!" I lied.

Karen said, "No you're not!"

"Nice work in D.C kid!" Mr.Stark said.

"O-ok!" I stuttered.

"My dad never really gave me much support, and i'm just trying to break the cycle."

I interrupted him, "I'm kind of in the middle of something..."

"Don't cut me off when i'm complimenting you! Anyway, great things are about to happen," He stopped talking abruptly because of the Ferry's honk... "What was that?"

I actually started having a panic attack, "Umm, i'm at band practice..." I'm such a terrible liar.

"That's odd, Happy told me you quit band two week ago?" He stated confused.

"I gotta go!" I yelled.

'Hey...." Then I hung up on him.

"I'll take those!" I shot my web at the man who was holding a pair of keys, and brought the keys back to me. I jumped off from where I was and landed onto the floor that they were standing on.

"Hey guys, you left at the wrong time! The ferry doesn't doc until 10:30! You guys are early!" I said and they came running towards me. I shot two guys away and punched another guy in the face. He fell all the way towards the end of the boat. He was dangling off the edge of the boat. Another guy came up behind me and tried to hit me with a blue glowing glove. I dodged it and shot my web at his arm and it was stuck to a metal pole.

Two other men tried to get up but I shot them and they went flying the other way with a motorcycle. "Woah, woah, woah, not so fast! Oh sorry! Are you guys ok? My bad that was a little hard. I gotta say," Shooting my empty web cartridge out then replacing it was a full one, "The other guy was way better with that glove thingy. I'm honestly, i-i'm shocked!"

The guy with the wings came out and smirked at me, I started running towards him but before I could get to him, the FBI showed up and yelled, "FBI! GET ON THE GROUND!" A bunch of men came towards me and I put my hands up in the air yelling, "Wait, wait, wait! What do you guys mean FBI??"

Karen started to speak, "The FBI is the Federal Bureau of-"

"NO! I understand what the FBI is! But what are they doing here?" Wings popped out of a white van cut the van in half. They were metal which means it's the same winged man that I fought before! He flew towards me with a purple lowing gun in his hands.

I moved everyone out of the way without getting hit. He flew up in the air and aimed his gun towards the guy who had the blue glowing gun and set him free. He yelled, "Get to the roof. We're leaving here!" I shot my web at the guy but missed. So then I shot it to the winged man's ankle. He shot his gun everywhere on the boat making holes.

I activated my taser web that was attached to the guys gun, and he let go of it. It landed in front of me but it exploded and shot everywhere. There was a huge crack in the middle of the ferry. The guy flew away from the scene and water started bursting through the crack. Both halves of the boat started falling apart.  The cars were going everywhere and were being pushed by the water.

"OH MY GOD!!! WHAT DO I DO!!" I screamed, "Karen, show me a x-ray of the boat! And point out all the strongest points." I saw all of the poles. I got an idea. I shot my webs at every single one of them then tied them together and pulled them as close as I could to myself. So that the boat wouldn't fall apart.

It stopped moving after 5 seconds. A man started clapping but then the boat immediately started falling apart again. Then after a few minutes, the boat started getting back together again. I looked over and saw Iron Man, pushing the boat back together, "Hi Spider-Man! Band practice was it?" He said sternly and sarcastically.

He flew to the bottom floor and I followed him. He somehow glued the boat back together, "Uhh Mr.Stark! Hey Mr.Stark!" I yelled climbing to the top of the boat, "Can I do anything!? Is there anything I can do!?"

He sighed, "I think you've done enough!" He flew off...

I sat at the top of a building with my legs dangling off the ledge. I hear two suits land near me, I assumed they were Tony Stark, and Y/n Stark...

*Y/N's POV*

I saw everything that happened. I felt bad for Peter because I know my dad won't let him hear the end of it. We flew towards him. I had my own iron man suit only it was fit for my body type.

"SO previously on Peter screws the pooch, I'd tell ya to stay away from this. You have a multimillionaire suit, not so you can just sneak off anywhere and do the one thing I told you NOT to do!" My dad yelled at him.

"Dad! Cut him some slack!" I yelled at him.

"NO Y/N! I will NOT! He disobeyed me! He deserved to be punished!!!" Dad yelled back.

"Is everyone ok?" I looked towards Peter.

"No thanks to you..." Dad said.

"Dad!" I yelled.

"Y/n! If you keep on defending him I will ground you!" I stayed silent.

Peter turned around with his mask off, "No thanks to me!? Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn't listen!" My dad flew down to Peter's level, while Peter started walking closer to dad, "NONE of this would've happened if you had just listened to me!!!!" I knew Peter was on the verge of bursting out into tears.

"If you even cared, you'd actually be here..." Peter continued speaking but then stopped. My dad's suit opened revealing himself. I did the same thing too. My dad walked right up to Peter while Peter backed away...

"I did listen Kid. Who do you think called the FBI huh?" He sighed walking closer to Peter, "Did you know I was the only one who believed in you while everybody else said I was crazy to recruit a 14 year old kid!" Dad stated.

"I'm 15-" Peter said quietly.

"No-THIS IS WHERE YOU ZIP IT ALRIGHT!!!!! AND LET THE ADULT TALK!" Dad screamed in front of Peter's face, "What if somebody died tonight? Hmm? Different story right? But this time it would be on you! But If you died, I think that's on me... I don't need that on my conscious."

"Y-yes sir. I know! I-i'm sorry" He stuttered. But my dad just shook his head, "Yeah, sorry doesn't cut it."

"I-I just wanted to be like you!" My dad shook his head again, "And I just wanted you to be better..."

"DAD!! Shut the hell up!!!!! Peter is my age! He didn't know what to do because you NEVER listened to him!" I took a deep breath while my Dad glared at me, "He's too young to make these life threatening decisions. I love him ok. We've been dating secretly for a few months...so don't you dare go yelling at him and blaming him for something that could've easily been avoided if YOU HAD JUST LISTENED TO HIM FOR ONCE!!!!"

"Ok so, you're grounded for the rest of your life and you're done dating Peter," He said pointing at me, "And so this is not working out, i'm gonna need the suit back."

"WHAT!?" I screamed, "You can't do that to him!!!"

"ZIP IT Y/N!!" He screamed at me. I had tears clouding my eyes now.

"Wait, for how long?" Peter asked.

"Forever" Dad responded sternly.

"No, no, no! Please, please, please! You don't understand! This is all I have! I am NOTHING without this suit!" Peter whined.

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it! Ok? God I sound like my dad..." Dad said disappointedly.

"I don't have any clothes..."

"Ok we'll sort that out..."

[End of flashback]

*Peter's POV*

I walked into my apartment where my Aunt May and I live. I had my headphones in and went straight to my room...

I stopped abruptly at the door that leads to my room. I saw Y/n sitting on my bed with a bag in her hands.

"Y-y/n..." I whispered in shock. Her head shot up and instantly ran into me. She hugged me so tight I couldn't even breathe. But I hugged her back and I heard her start crying. I pulled back and wiped her tears away with the pad of my thumb.

"Hey don't cry! I'm right here..." I leaned into her and kissed her soft lips. She kissed back putting her hands on my neck. I pulled back and she smiled at me and I smiled back.

"I came here because I convinced my dad to give this back to you..." She handed me the bag. I opened it and found my Spider-Man suit in it.

"No... freaking...WAY!!! Oh my gosh Y/n thank you so much!!!" I yelled. She chuckled and pecked my lips, "And we can be back together now!" I grabbed her and spun her around in the air. She giggled and said, "Can't wait to be your girlfriend again!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way..." She smiles at me then I kiss her again.

----

Word Count: 1,887

[bastillewolf]

The Grand Tranquility Hotel (Epilogue)

Pairing: Alex Turner/Reader

Summary: An eccentric hotel owner and an inquisitive writer find solace in each other when they both seemed to be at the edge of rock bottom.

Notes: Here it is; the final chapter. Short, but sweet. I want to thank everyone for reading, liking, commenting and reblogging. You seriously made me feel a lot better about my writing and I couldn’t be more grateful. This will most definitely not be my last Alex Turner fanfic as I have another series in the works, as well as a fic for a different fandom.

Again, thank you. You’re the best readers I could’ve hoped to have.

Tag list: @edgythought​​​ @iwannabemorethanme​​​ @he4rtbre4khotel​​​ @juga-42​​​ @alexbandguy86​​​​ @imagine-that-505​​ @billskarsgard-is-gorgeous​

Chapter XVI - Anyways

She gently set her pen down, her eyes trailing across the numbers she’d written down one last time before finally taking a break from her work. Hours like these were common for her, spending most of the morning doing the bookwork until she was able to have lunch. After that, she went through her checklist, making sure each and every little detail would be perfect for when new guests arrived.

She’d have a chat with Nick to see if all was well, then with the gardener, the head of cleaning, and if she had the time for it, with Jamie too. Now being well acquainted with every single staff member, including the new ones she personally would hire, it was a piece of cake getting around and making sure everything was still functioning properly. Like a big family, who conveniently all worked together.

As of right now, she was leaning against the doorway of her office, taking in the scene that took place in the lobby before her with amusement.

Alex was giving a tour of the hotel, something he’d set on doing each time a new group of guests popped in, to be able to get closer to the people he was having. However, as proud to show his hotel off as he was, he couldn’t help but get annoyed by the continuous repetitive questions that were asked, especially by the younglings.

“When did you start the hotel?”

“About 8 years ago.”

“Did you sell the other one?”

“No, it’s still open, if you want to visit it.”

“Are you shagging the author of that book?”

“Don’t say shagging, you sound ridiculous. And yes, I am.”

All the while keeping a straight face as he spoke to the young lad. His parents automatically apologized, which Alex shrugged off, before scolding their son.

As if he’d expected her to be there, he turned and met her gaze, and winked at her.

Cheeky bastard.

“Don’t forget about that meeting,” she reminded him, tapping her golden watch, which was now polished with a new leather strap; a gift from the hotel owner himself.

He nodded. “I’ll be done in a few.”

 When he finally landed in the seat across the table from her in room 505 after having kissed her, he looked tired enough to fall asleep then and there. His hair was messier than usual, which seemed to be one of the only things about his appearance that could tell her if he was in a state of disarray, apart from his eyes. His beard was always groomed and well-kept, his suit dry-cleaned and ironed, and his shoes polished and tied. Only his hair could tell a tale or two.

“We could always postpone that meeting, you know,” she muttered, taking his hand in hers and gently running her fingers over his knuckles.

“I know,” he said, “But I wouldn’t want to keep Miles waiting. It seemed rather important when I spoke to him over the phone.”

“Alright, but let’s not make it too long.”

“Agreed.”

After a formidable lunch, they headed down to the garage, where a familiar black Cadillac was waiting for them. Alex raised his eyebrow at her, to which she shrugged. “Thought it might be nice to take it out for a spin again.”

He only smiled in response. But when he was about to take a step towards the vehicle, he was greeted with a familiar face that rounded the corner.

“Matthew?” Alex asked, giving the man a hug, “What are you doing here?”

Matt patted him on the back and embraced her before answering him with a raised brow. “I’ll be your chauffeur for the day. Now hand me the keys.”

“What? We have a meeting to go to, Matthew.”

She felt her lips quiver into a mischievous smile, something Alex had yet to notice.

“Hand me the keys.”

“I really don’t have time to play games right now, mate-“

“The keys, now.”

“No.”

“Do you want me to beat you up again?”

“What the-“ he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes finding hers to look for some kind of support in them, but he found none.

“Just hand Matt the keys, love. I’m sure he’s very capable of driving us to our meeting,” she simply said.

He furrowed his brow, but finally relented. She knew it took more than Matt’s persuading to get him to let someone else drive. He barely ever allowed it, taking too much pride in his own chauffeuring skills and having way too much fun with it, but for this occasion, she had to make sure he would. It would ruin the surprise otherwise.

It took him a while to realize they were going the wrong way.

“This isn’t the direction to the town hall, Matthew,” he grumbled, clearly annoyed by the man’s incapability to remember clear directions. “If you hit the gas any harder, you might as well drive us to the next town over.”

“Don’t worry, Al, I know a shorter route. We’ll be there in no time,” Matt replied.

She had also specifically asked the driver to keep his composure, no matter what the hotel owner threw at him. She was glad to have done so.

“Shorter route my arse.”

It took him even longer to realize they weren’t heading to town hall at all. She had expected him to start swearing at Matt this time or something, and yet, he sat there quietly, her hand in his, as if giving in to whatever was going to happen now, which somehow worried her. Even her driver shot her a concerned glance through the rear-view mirror. This wasn’t like Alex, and she knew her plans had transpired at the exact right time.

The car rolled onto a familiar pathway, and she could slowly see that spark lighting up in his eyes as they were glued to the scenery outside.

He looked back at her, as if he was questioning his sanity when they stopped in front of the Grand Tranquility Hotel.

She smiled at him. “I thought we could both use a break. I asked Nick and Miles to take over for a bit, and they said to take as long as we need.”

As if a deadweight had been lifted off his shoulders, he leapt forward and kissed her passionately.

Matt groaned, stepping out of the vehicle. “Get a room.”

Ignoring him and the door slamming after, he ran his thumb over her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary, my love.”

It was small thing like this that made their lives easier, at times when she looks at him and knows exactly what he’s gonna say is: it’s just another race to anyways.

The end.

[alirhi]

writing sample, I guess?

So, there’s this series of books I’ve been trying (and mostly failing lol) to get done for...gods, going on 20 years, now. fuck, I’m old. Anyway, I still haven’t finished a single book, ever, in my life, but I’ve got a lot of random snippets of widely varying quality lol and I’m bored so I figured... fuck it. I’ll share some stuff and see if anyone likes it. I’m starting with a scene that was scrapped from the second book in the series. sorry if it’s a little confusing, and I’d be happy to provide context if anyone asks. I just don’t have a lot of good stuff that’s not getting kept if I ever actually finish and publish any of this crap lol and I don’t want to start off with something that’s actually being kept, if that makes sense? Anyway, here:

oh first... TRIGGER WARNING! death, blood, violence, mentions some other traumatic things like torture and rape. 

and despite other characters calling her a child, main girl is NOT. she’s in her 20s. just to clarify XD

"Dad!" Choking back sobs, Rachel stumbled just inside the door and skidded the rest of the way on her knees, coming to rest beside the man she'd truly come to think of as her father. "Dad... dad... Daddy!" Tears blurred her vision as she pulled the bleeding and barely-conscious warrior's head into her lap; she tried to blink them away, but only made them roll in steady rivers down her cheeks.

Voice wavering, she stroked his unnaturally pale face and whimpered, "Daddy, please wake up!"

He stirred, ever so slightly, and the one eye that remained in his skull fluttered halfway open. It seemed at first that he couldn't see anything around him, but then that cold blue orb came to rest on the most welcome features he could possibly hope to see in his final moments, beautiful even twisted in grief as they now were.

"Rachel..." Amadeus rasped. With a wince, he swallowed past the dry lump in his throat and tried again: "Little Lady... You cannot be here..." Feebly, he tried to bring one hand up to cup her cheek, but couldn't muster the strength. His arm sort of twitched uselessly by his side and then dropped, limp and weak in the steadily growing pool of blood beneath him. The shattered stumps where his wings had once sat twitched as she pulled him closer, but they, too, would never be of use to him again.

For one desperate, foolish moment, the young queen felt relief wash through her. He was alive! Resolved to keep it that way, she squared her shoulders and gently shushed him. "Let me concentrate. I'll get you healed up and then-"

"No."

Startled, she nearly dropped him. "What?"

Throat still dry and choked, Amadeus had to fight to push every word out. "I'll not... see another dawn. You must... lead our people... home."

"You're my people!" she protested, fresh tears stinging her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, daddy, I'll get you heal-"

"Rachel." Her mouth snapped shut as he turned his head to press his pasty face into her hand. Blind hope aside, they both knew he could never be healed; severed wings were the one injury no angel could recover from, no matter how much energy she wasted trying. He closed his eye for a moment, and when it opened again, he put all the strength and dignity he could into his gaze; it pierced through his sobbing Queen, and she shivered. With the last of his waning strength, he insisted in a soft growl, "Be my daughter."

The blonde hated that she knew exactly what he meant. Cringing, but unable to look away or deny him the one thing she could actually do for him, she lifted her stolen dagger and took a deep breath.

"I love you, Daddy." Hardening her heart, she closed her eyes and plunged the shining golden blade through his.

As his lungs deflated for the last time, Rachel filled hers and let out the longest, loudest scream she could manage. A surge of power shot out of her at the same time, slamming into the walls hard enough to cause spiderweb cracks in all four sheer rock faces, and causing the glass to explode out of the tiny window near the ceiling. Vibrant sky blue eyes turned a faintly glowing silver as she set Amadeus' body on the floor and stood. Her lap and hands were soaked in his blood, but she paid no attention. Her tears dried and her grief retreated behind blind, ice-cold fury.

The cracks followed her through the halls, and only grew when the stones around her began to shake as she conjured music through their atoms. This was no low-volume hum to entertain herself; this was her war cry, and it reverberated through the dimly lit halls, announcing her approach to every living thing left in the castle. She was hardly even aware of what song she'd conjured until she heard Jonathan Davis' voice tear through the building screaming "ARE YOU READY?!"

Experience during their invasion of her home world had taught her one thing: The Fallen hated her taste in music, and the driving beat that spurred her on well past the point of exhaustion and kept her focused disoriented the enemy. It was perfect.

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you that this is a very stupid idea." The blonde didn't even so much as twitch when Lazereth appeared out of the gloom and fell into step beside her. "You're letting everyone know exactly where you are."

"Do I look like I'm hiding?" she snarled, swirling silver irises flashing.

"Why aren't you on that transport, you foolish girl?"

In any other situation, her normally cool and collected friend's venom would have made Rachel pause, possibly reconsider her actions, but she was too far gone. Nothing penetrated the static that clouded her mind. No thought was given even the tiniest voice except one: Kill them all. Vengeance drove her forward, and as her rage built, the music grew louder and the cracks in the walls wider and deeper.

Lazereth blinked, taking note of the damage for the first time. "You're expending an awful lot of power, little one."

"I don't even feel it."

That was almost more concerning than the fiery hatred that radiated off of her tiny body. "Killian, child-"

"They killed my father." Rachel stopped dead in her tracks, finally turning to face her friend as she drew her borrowed sword with one hand; the other still kept a white-knuckle grip on the knife she'd driven into Amadeus' heart. The final strike had been hers, true, but that was mercy. He'd have died either way.

Lazereth growled, gripping both of the little blonde's shoulders and giving her a violent shake. "And your children need you! Your people need you!" At the young Queen's startled expression, she rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't look at me like that! Of course I know who you are. And now Matthias will, as well!"

"I don't CARE!" She shook the older woman off, not wanting to find out the hard way if her strange nullifying power worked on her. "Imprison me, enslave me, torture me, rape me... Whatever. I'll live. But no one fucks with my family!"

Tears stung the noblewoman's eyes, blurring her vision with an icy gray haze as she whispered, "You still have family, my dear."

"And Emil's taking care of the last members of it still trapped on this rock," Rachel snapped, breaking into a run as the song switched from Korn's Blind to Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.

She didn't notice, and was too wrapped up in her bloodlust to care, when Lazereth stood where she was, one hand hovering by her throat and tiny pink lips forming one nearly-silent word. "'Emil'?"

It was surprisingly easy to make her way through the palace to the throne room. Rachel met with some resistance, but it was minimal; by the time she reached the closed and barred doors, it finally dawned on her that most of the King's forces were out looking for her in the city. Good. She wanted her next fight to be one-on-one.

"MATTHIAS!" The heavy doors slammed open, the broken timber that had been bracing them shut launched to two separate corners of the room from the force of her rage. Finding her prey there, huge eyes narrowed in feigned anger to cover the very real fear behind them, she smirked. "Let's dance, you ugly fucker."

The room trembled and her ears ached from the volume as the song she conjured changed again and grew louder. Pantera's 5 Minutes Alone brought Matthias's two remaining guards to their knees, clutching their heads in pain. Matthias himself had too much pride to be seen flinching, much less cowering, and that was fine with her. If he shrank and cowered, she could simply lop his head off and walk away. She didn't want that; she wanted him to suffer.

"You wanted the Pallandre Queen," she bellowed over the music as she slowly closed the distance between them. He took an involuntary step back before he caught himself, and her smirk spread into an insidious, almost manic grin. "Well, here I am, Matty. Come and get me."

Never breaking eye contact with her, the newly crowned King called out to his guards. He tried to sound commanding, even a trifle impatient; Rachel only heard the tremor of unease that made his voice waver and crack. She smiled again. "They're busy. Anyway, this fight is all yours, Matt. You invaded my home, you enslaved my people, you killed my father... and now? Now is your moment of fucking reckoning. You're gonna learn today, boy; don't start a fight you don't have the balls to finish!"

Finally she was mere inches from him. It was too close for her sword to be of any use to her, but that was fine; she still had the knife coated in Amadeus's drying blood in her other hand. Staring up at the lanky monstrosity before her, she cut the music at last and grinned as she pulled her glamour back in around her. She delighted in watching those comically large eyes get even bigger with shock as her golden locks and bright sky blue eyes both faded to a deep brown and her pale pink skin turned a beautiful light caramel color. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"You!"

The illusion dropped in an instant and she backed up a step, nodding. "Been here all along, baby." Quick as a striking snake, she pressed the flat of the knife blade against his bare arm and then danced back, cackling as he shrank away from her and howled in pain. "Not my fault you were too stupid to see it."

[letterboxd]

Best of the Fests 2020.

From 17th-century werewolves to WWII gremlins to present-day nomads, the stripped-back, mostly virtual 2020 fall festivals still managed to bring the goods. Our team rounds up the very best titles we saw at TIFF, NYFF, the BFI London Film Festival and beyond.

LISTEN: Gemma Gracewood and Ella Kemp chew over their festival favorites in the latest episode of The Letterboxd Show.

Kudos to the teams at the Toronto, New York and BFI London Film Festivals for pulling excellent hybrid festivals together in extremely weird, not-at-all-ideal circumstances. From the always-excellent conversations (and Cameron Bailey’s always-excellent suits) to the hybrid options for viewing, we left feeling hope for our favorite art form.

We have been keeping track, over on our Twitter account, of the many film festivals going online, and it’s safe to say that virtual film festivals—and the wider accessibility they offer—have been a silver lining to this mostly awful year. Indeed, the 58th NYFF was one of Film at Lincoln Center’s most-attended festivals, with 70,000+ attendees in all 50 states and beyond. (We participated in a NYFF Industry Talk, along with MUBI and Rotten Tomatoes, about the future of online film conversation, moderated by Indiewire’s David Ehrlich.)

Attempting to replicate the extreme fatigue of the real thing, our festival team (Ella Kemp, Aaron Yap, Kambole Campbell, Jack Moulton and Gemma Gracewood and—helping us bridge the geo-locked divide—Canadian TIFF regular Jonathan White) disregarded international date lines and dove right in. We saw many films to love, but by consensus (and a poke around your Letterboxd reactions) these are the ones we’re still thinking about.

Lovers Rock Directed by Steve McQueen, written by McQueen and Courttia Newland. The ‘Small Axe’ anthology will be released on a weekly rollout on Amazon Prime Video beginning November 20 with ‘Mangrove’, then ‘Lovers Rock’, ‘Red, White and Blue’, ‘Alex Wheatle’ and finally ‘Education’. Seen at: NYFF, BFI London Film Festival.

Lovers Rock, the first part of Steve McQueen’s ambitious, multi-part film project Small Axe, feels like a massive stylistic departure for the filmmaker, in a manner that completely transfixes and astounds. It’s no wonder that this one turned heads at multiple festivals, as it’s immediately warmer, more freewheeling and sensual than any other McQueen work. It’s defined by a hypnotic focus on sound and touch, represented in its earliest scenes with a tactile close-up of a heated comb working its way through hair, and later with its focus on hands wrapped around shoulders, moving across shirts and dresses, people joining together and/or colliding through song and dance. Despite being made for television, it’s astounding how little Lover’s Rock feels that way. Often impressionistic and unbound to the kind of urgency or efficiency that naturally comes with having to adhere to a time-slot, it simply rests in the moment. With the seismic protests being undertaken by Black people this year, Lovers Rock feels like more than welcome respite from a hateful populace—visually rich, gorgeously soundtracked Black joy and love. Also, man, those shirts are incredible. —KC

Nomadland Written and directed by Chloé Zhao. In US theaters December 4. Seen at: TIFF, NYFF, BFI London Film Festival.

“I am already convinced that Chloé Zhao deserves the whole world,” writes Jaime of Nomadland, the TIFF People’s Choice winner. Personal security is something we don’t think about on a daily basis. We have shelter, we can buy food, anything else is bonus. But what if those two basic tenets vanish? While the global financial crisis affected all in 2008, it affected retirees more. Supposedly secure retirement investments vanished; security no more. What do you do? Survive. Zhao’s adaptation of Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction masterpiece Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century is a beacon of human spirit and survival. It may not be pretty, but it’s real. It’s not something to be embarrassed about, it’s something to be proud of. Those that let this happen to good, honest working people should be the ones embarrassed. —JW

Minari Written and directed by Lee Isaac Chung. No release date announced. Seen at: Middleburg Film Festival.

Minari is the medicine for these tough times. It’s a wonderful, wonderful, deeply personal, utterly serene and metaphysical portrait of America—freedom, faith, superstition, forces of nature, and ambition collide with the costs of intoxicating capitalist dreams, but not without a whole lot of heart. This is elegantly crafted, at once organic in its approach and always sweepingly cinematic. The film’s gentle sense of humor ensures that it never takes itself too seriously and allows the weight of its poetic images and juxtapositions to guide the narrative. The brilliant ensemble should grow to join Steven Yeun as household names (well, cinephile households). Youn Yuh-jung and Alan Kim are bright sparks as the latest classic duo of sassy grandma and precocious grandchild, but it’s Han Ye-ri—taking on the surrogate role of director Lee Isaac Chung’s mother—who provides an overlooked and tender sounding board for familial bonds in fraction. Minari is truly one of 2020’s most invaluable and essential pieces of art, living up to the hype built since Sundance. Korea came to the USA for the Oscars earlier this year, and if 2021 shows similar mercy, there’s a chance you’ll see this home-grown Asian-American picture mounting that stage in future. —JM

Wolfwalkers Directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart, written by Will Collins with Moore and Stewart. Recently released in UK theaters; coming to Apple TV+ December 11. Seen at: TIFF, BFI London Film Festival.

The much-anticipated Cartoon Saloon adventure Wolfwalkers was met with only joy around here. A fable about what happens when a colonizing force tries to tame a wild forest, set during Oliver Cromwell’s Siege of Kilkenny, Wolfwalkers builds to “one of the most sensational animated third acts I’ve seen in years,” according to Animatedantic. The film’s themes are embedded in every hand-drawn line and stroke. “It’s not sleek and seamless and modern,” writes Cow Shea. “This is transparently a true work of art where all the work of that art is part of the finished product.” Mebh and Robyn are animated action heroes for the ages, and you’ll hear a lot about ‘Wolfvision’ in the weeks to come—for very good reason. Werewolf films have, for years, tried different ways to put us inside the beast’s mind, but Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart followed their noses and it’s as thrilling as things get. —GG

David Byrne’s American Utopia Directed by Spike Lee. On HBO and HBO Max now. Seen at: TIFF, NYFF, BFI London Film Festival.

David Byrne’s American Utopia is well on track to join Jonathan Demme’s film of another Byrne stage outing, Stop Making Sense (1984), as one of the highest-rated anythings on Letterboxd. We’re still deciding whether this film is sublime because the stage show itself is sublime, or because Spike Lee has sublimely captured the whole joyous thing for us to inject into our eyeballs, time and again, for far less than the price of a Broadway ticket. Let’s be honest: it’s due to both, and more besides. It’s a blessing upon 2020, of that we are certain. As Clint writes, “The phrase ‘this is the film we need right now’ is such a creaky cliché, but there’s an ineffable feeling that, if David Byrne and Spike Lee can’t heal the world with grey suits, bare feet, and some of the most all-encompassing works of music ever written, no one can.” As my colleague says, “will rewatch to death”. —GG

Shiva Baby Written and directed by Emma Seligman. On the festival circuit. Seen at: TIFF, LFF.

A girl walks into a shiva and bumps into her sugar daddy. What sounds like a joke sets up 77 minutes of note-perfect comedy horror in Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, her feature debut adapted from her dissertation short of the same name. It’s funny, horrifying, excruciating and so painfully, accurately Jewish. Isaac Feldberg calls it “cruelly hilarious about everything smothering and inevitably miserable about Jewish family gatherings”, but Seligman’s sharp eye for comedy, her affection for her teen hero Danielle (Rachel Sennott, a bona fide star) just figuring her career out and owning her sexuality (Molly Gordon playing Danielle’s overachieving ex-girlfriend Maya is a highlight) cuts straight to the core, however you relate. Matt Neglia points out how Shiva Baby “captures the behaviors of its characters with the same level of dry wit and detail as the Coen Brothers would”. What a thrill for a young, smart, Jewish, bisexual woman to be setting the pace now. Keep an eye on Seligman’s bright, bright future. —EK

Tove Directed by Zaida Bergroth, written by Eeva Putro. Released in Finland; on the festival circuit elsewhere. Seen at: TIFF.

If there was a film swoony enough to fill the Portrait of a Lady on Fire-sized hole in your heart this year, it’s Zaida Bergroth’s Tove, a bewitching biopic of Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson, creator of the beloved Moomin cartoon characters. Set in Helsinki during and post-World War II, the film orbits around her boho world, flitting between her creative struggles as a painter and deep sexual awakening with married theater director Vivica Bandler (Krista Kosonen). As Lillian says, “Lesbians and Moomins is such a huge fucking mood I never wanted it to end.” Alma Pöysti shines effortlessly in the lead role. “The film happens on her fantastic face,” writes Hannu. Seth agrees: “a captivating first-class drama about a world-renowned talent in search of her own identity, love and freedom.” A cozy fall-season perfection. —AY

Shadow in the Cloud Co-written and directed by Roseanne Liang. Slated for a summer 2021 release. Seen at: TIFF, AFI Fest.

A proud addition to the “she did that!” canon, the single downside of Roseanne Liang’s genre-perfect, “deliciously fearless” Midnight Madness winner Shadow in the Cloud is that there was no Midnight Madness to experience it at—but thanks to a juicy sale out of TIFF, we can look forward to a premiere next summer. Chloë Grace Moretz is Maude Garrett, a WWII pilot assigned to transport a highly classified package over the Pacific. The all-male crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress banishes her to the lower ball turret, where they harass, gaslight and leer over her—and that is nowhere near the worst part of this bonkers, non-stop hell flight, which Moretz carries like the future action hero she must now become, if the movie goddesses are listening. —GG

Pieces of a Woman Directed by Kornél Mundruczó, written by Kata Wéber. Coming soon to Netflix. Seen at: TIFF, NYFF.

You will be hearing a lot about Vanessa Kirby in the months to come. Pieces of a Woman is an arresting, often taxing watch, but few actors have delivered a performance as utterly overwhelming as Kirby portraying Martha, a grieving mother processing the loss of her baby. The filmmaking team (Mundruczo and Weber share a “film by” credit) zoom in on deep, jagged pain, and tease out some of the most affecting moments put to screen this year. Jack calls the film “an intensely intimate depiction of mental and marital deterioration caused by tragedy” and nods to master Howard Shore’s “subtle yet potent” score. It’s poetry in motion, with stunning turns from Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Sarah Snook and Benny Safdie also. But proceed with caution: “this film will destroy you”, Alisha Tabilin warns. —EK

Underplayed Directed by Stacey Lee. On the festival circuit. Seen at: TIFF. (Also recommended in our music movies round-up.)

Women-in-the-workplace movies aren’t usually this banging. Stacey Lee’s documentary Underplayed focuses on one corner of the still wildly sexist music industry—the dance-music scene—and lays out both the facts and feelings regarding why women still, always, deserve better. A number of key names guide the story—Rezz, Alison Wonderland, Nervo, TokiMonsta—giving the viewer a taste of what we’re missing out on while booking the same old men, over and over. And it’s not just because of the stats or the injustices that this is a must-watch: in times of limited social interaction and when the feeling of an adrenaline-fuelled crowd feels like a foggy memory, Lee captures some truly electric moments of these women thriving, captivating thousands of music lovers at once. “Buy yourself good speakers and turn them up because this movie is fun and it deserves it,” writes Matt Brown, and he’s absolutely correct. Underplayed is essential and exciting. The most entertaining education of the year. —EK

Another Round Directed by Thomas Vinterburg, written by Vinterburg and Tobias Lindholm. Awaiting new UK date due to lockdown. In US cinemas soon. Seen at: TIFF, LFF.

Another Round reunites filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg with his muse Mads Mikkelsen, in a lads-on-tour buddy movie, except the lads are four middle-aged high-school teachers, and the tour features a very casual, very constant level of intoxication each man commits to in the name of a social experiment. What could possibly go wrong, you ask? Plenty, naturally—but Vinterberg marries the slapstick moments of bumbling drunks falling over themselves with more mature, poignant scenes that question just how far you can or should go to feel that little bit more alive. There’s a lot to love here, but if we’re being very precise, it’s “rock-solid proof that Mads Mikkelsen is one of our greatest actors,” says Karen Han. Come for the wise, contemplative study of youth and spontaneity, stay for rock-solid proof that Mads Mikkelsen is also, somehow, one of our greatest contemporary dancers. —EK

One Night in Miami Directed by Regina King, adapted by Kemp Powers from his own stage play. In select US theaters December 25, coming to Amazon Prime Video January 15, 2021. Seen at: TIFF, NYFF.

Ladies and gentleman, Regina King has arrived. The actor wastes nothing in her feature directorial debut, bringing to the screen Kemp Powers’ vivid stage play of the same name with a heavyweight cast of greats. Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge and Leslie Odom Jr. are Malcolm X, Cassius Clay (before he took the name Muhammad Ali), Jim Brown and Sam Cooke respectively, as the four men celebrate Clay’s victory over Sonny Liston in February 1964, during One Night in Miami. Rachel Wagner notes how “they all feel like friends and have chemistry, but each with a unique perspective”. This chemistry comes from King’s perfect alchemy of mood, design and structure; she lets her men speak, but her voice is never lost. “Queen King never wavers on her vision until every bit of flesh is torn off each man,” Ben notes, admiring a film that shines for all its famous faces, but stands the test of time for its rich, piercing empathy for every other one waiting in the shadows. —EK

Supernova Written and directed by Harry Macqueen. Awaiting UK and Ireland release due to lockdown; in select US theaters January 29, 2021. Seen at: BFI London Film Festival.

Colin Firth at his very best, Stanley Tucci losing his grip on himself, the luscious Lake District and endless cozy, delicious, warm knitwear. Supernova is every bit as beautiful as it sounds, but also packs a major punch when it comes to mapping a lifelong love story, and the cost of loyalty and pride when you’re fighting against pain nobody can control. As Sam and Tusker, devoted to one another for decades, come to terms with Tusker’s diagnosis of early on-set dementia, there is as much care and sadness as is to be expected, but it still feels brand new and cuts deep. Every good love story is its own. Director Harry Macqueen and his two shining stars understand this better than anyone. —EK

French Exit Directed by Azazel Jacobs, written by Patrick DeWitt. Scheduled for US release January 21, 2021. Seen at NYFF.

Armed with acerbic wit and sharpened claws, Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a vulnerable close-to-career-best performance in French Exit as a mother free-falling from wealth and reconciling with her son, an expertly cold Lucas Hedges. What appears to be formal and dry (“rich white-people stuff”, blegh) is actually wonderfully weird and surprisingly spiritual. There’s a divisive scene at the half-way point that instantly unroots the movie from any grounding we assumed it had established. In any other film, it would open up an entire world of possibilities, but French Exit decidedly treats it as matter-of-fact in order to focus on the emotional journey. It’s the decisive moment—you’re on its wavelength, or you’re overboard—and the rewards for staying aboard are plentiful. Patrick DeWitt’s adaptation of his own novel is in good hands with director Azazel Jacobs. —JM

Still Processing Directed by Sophy Romvari. On the festival circuit. Seen at: TIFF.

A final, honorable mention for Sophy Romvari’s Still Processing, the highest-rated short film out of TIFF, and an excavation of grief like no other. “You’ve got to watch this one twice,” writes Martyn. “First viewing to just weep every two to three minutes. Second viewing to really appreciate how great it is.”

[suspiriu-m]

Examining Youth Culture

Youth Culture in television in cinema is a theme we’ve all seen before. In some way or another, we’ve all probably related or even seen ourselves in something we’ve watched. A lot of experiences we see in these coming of age style pieces most of the time have something to do with at least one of three recurring themes. Sex, drugs and alcohol. Character archetypes are also an important part of these stories too. To sum it up, we’re generally confronted with Jocks, Nerds, Goths, Popular Kids, Pot Heads etc.

A major point to take into account when looking at this type of media is the perspective the story is told from, and where it’s taking place. For example, Barry Jenkins’ 2016 film Moonlight, is completely different from 2018’s Love Simon, directed by Greg Berlanti. Moonlight tells the story of a young Black man named Chiron. Through three different time periods in his life, we see him come to terms with his identity and sexuality, all while living with his drug addicted mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Miami. Throughout the film Chiron not only faces the struggles of his sexuality within himself, but how his unaccepting peers react, his mess of a mother, and maneuvering masculinity without the guidance of his missing father. In a review written for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw says that Moonlight

“is a film about masculinity, the wounds and crises of which are the same for all sexualities, but conditioned by the background weather of race and class” ((Bradshaw Moonlight review – a visually ravishing portrait of masculinity).

Love Simon however, is a completely different ballgame. The juxtaposition between the two films is extremely noticeable, even from just from looking at their promotional images. While Moonlight is more of a serious, realistic and emotionally charged movie, Love Simon has more of a young adult, coming of age, happily ever after tone to it. In the film, the main character has to find his way through growing up, high school, coming out to his friends and family, but most importantly figuring out how Blue is. Blue is the person that Simon has formed a connection with through emailing each other. The only problem? He has absolutely no idea who Blue even is. One of the more important aspects of this film when looking to compare it to others is the fact that the main character and most of the cast are all white. Not only that, but it takes place in a much more suburban setting compared to that of Moonlight. Simon’s relationship with his parents is very strong, his friends are all super close to him and the impression is given that they would obviously support him once he comes out. Surprise, they do.

In terms of which character I related to from the selection of films and shows assigned, I don’t really feel like I can truthfully say that I felt some sort of connection with them. Being gay myself, there wasn’t a crazy amount of representation in terms of queer youth in the films. Yes in Mean Girls you had Damian but he was kind of underutilized and exaggerated. In Euphoria you have Jules who is a trans woman but that also isn’t something that I’ve experienced and won’t pretend to. Could I relate to a few aspects of her character? Of course, i’m sure anybody can. But am I able to say I identify with her? Definitely not. That’s not a bad thing though, trans stories need to be represented in the media. More importantly they don’t always have to be represented in some tragic story or situation. Even though we’ve seen more queer representation today than ever before. We still have a long way to go. Rachel Bays wrote an article for The Advance-Titan stating

“Out of 109 major studio releases in 2017 researched by GLAAD, roughly 13% had LGBTQ characters. Of these films, about 64% featured gay men, 36% featured lesbians, 14% featured bisexuals and 0% featured trans-inclusive content”(Bays The complicated history of queer representation in film: The Advance).

It’s imperative that we see more queer representation mashed with Youth Culture in our media because not every single person experiences the same thing, especially queer kids. In terms of Kids, Saved By The Bell and Mid 90’s, I don’t specifically remember any particular moments in which I personally felt any sort of strong connection.

Now, if we’re gonna speak about common themes in a lot of these stories, then here is where I can say I definitely connected with some situations more than specific characters. Sex, drugs and alcohol are topics we see come up in a lot of coming of age or youth centered stories. In Kids, the main cast is basically parading around the city smoking, drinking and fornicating multiple times throughout the entire day. In Euphoria, one of the main characters Rue suffers from drug addiction. Kat comes to terms with her sexual awakening and a lot of her storyline is focused on her coming in touch with that side of her, whether or not it was the best way to portray it. And most of the other characters are all seen smoking, drinking out having sex at some point in the series.

Growing up, especially in our teen years, we’ve all had the opportunity to partake in at least one of those activities previously mentioned. I know for a fact that I have definitely been to parties, drank alcohol, smoked weed. I’ve encountered hookups and the whole nine yards. Something that really stood out to me in Euphoria was the episode in which Jules ends up meeting with an older man in a hotel room late at night. We shall not name the character for sake of spoilers but those of you who watched know exactly who i’m talking about. That entire scene was just gut wrenching for me to watch and I know it was for many other young queer people as well. Everything about that scene was purposefully uncomfortable to watch from the cinematography, music, acting and the location.

Speaking of music, the soundtrack to a film or TV show is super important and a lot of the time helps the creators in getting their point across. Euphoria specifically used a lot of modern music but also threw in some classics as well. The singer-songwriter Labrinth played a big role in adding music to the show’s soundtrack. He even collaborated with Zendaya in making All For Us, the show’s theme and closing track. It was premiered in the last episode of the series and incorporated into the storyline with a performance by Zendaya herself. This song specifically is so important aside from the rest of the show’s music because it aids in showing Rue’s downfall at the end of the season. She goes through so much in her recovery and relapsing and her relationship with Jules that when Jules finally decides to hop on that train and leave even though Rue tells her it’s not the best idea, it absolutely crushed her. In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Labrinth stated “When you look back to your teenage days... it feels semi-magical but semi-crazy and semi-psychotic. I wanted to make sure the music felt like those things”(Marks How Labrinth Created the Perfect Soundtrack for HBO's 'Euphoria').

To help convey how certain songs can help in telling a story, I created a short playlist with songs that I felt matched certain plot points in the show. Without going into too much detail in an attempt to avoid spoilers, I want to give you guys a short explanation of each song about how I feel it can fit into the show. In no exact order, the first song I chose was Regulars by Allie X. The song is about trying to fit in with society and the people around you when you feel out of place all the time. Personally, I feel like this is a good representation of Rue when she comes home from rehab and has to try and blend back into society knowing that everybody knows where she was. Halsey’s Beautiful Stranger is about meeting somebody after being hurt so many times, or just being in a bad headspace and finally feeling like this person could be the one. This is a good explanation for how Rue feels about Jules when she first meets her. She’s hesitant but slowly starts to fall in love with her before Jules starts acting out. Contaminated by Banks is a piece about loving somebody but having their history or the other person's actions make you feel not so good about the relationship you have with them. This is how Rue feels after her first little fallout with Jules. They kind of have an on and off relationship throughout the season and Rue subconsciously has doubts. Simmer by Hayley Williams is a song about suppression. Suppressing your emotions, especially the bad ones like anger, fear, sadness, rage. Nate in the series suffers with a lot of mental suppression. He suppresses his feelings about his relationship with his father, his questioning sexuality, his feelings for a specific character. Although he does lose his cool multiple times throughout the show, it’s not until the end of the season that he really bursts and lets everything out. Another song from Hayley Williams with her band Paramore called Fake Happy is also on the playlist. Fake Happy, to put it simply, is exactly what the title suggests. Pretending to be okay when you’re really not. In the show Rue relapses a few times whether that be big or small, and she has to hide it from her friends and family.

Maddy and Cassie are both the pretty popular girls of this show, leading me to choose Rina Sawayama’s XS as a representation of them. The title XS, otherwise interpreted as “excess” is literally about money, appearance and materialistic items. All of which Cassie and Maddy display throughout the show. The popular cheerleaders with the nice clothes and toned bodies, the pretty makeup and done up hair. It’s a perfect representation of their characters in my opinion. Even though they do have storylines going deeper into their minds, this is what they portray on the surface level.

Hallucinogenics by Matt Masson is a song about going somewhere else most likely due to drugs, and feeling like a different person. Although the song is a bit lighthearted in terms of sound, I think it fits with the scene with Jules and Rue taking drugs together and tripping in her room together. Rue was wary about doing it especially after the fact that she just got clean, and she already has this war in her mind going on but she does it anyways because she likes Jules. Attack of Panic by Aly & Aj heavily focuses on anxiety, which is something Rue deals with multiple times throughout the show. Especially the episode when she’s in school and pretty much has a mental breakdown and runs to the bathroom and hides. Even though the character Kat isn’t the primary focus of the show, her storyline has a bit of line shined upon it multiple times. For her storyline i chose Doja Cat’s Cyber Sex. Kat becomes a cam girl at one point in her sexual awakening and kind of goes full throttle into it. The song talks about having sexual relations with somebody over the internet and that’s exactly what Kat does, except she sees it more as a way to make an income.

Last but not least, I of course had to choose Labrinth and Zendaya’s song made for the show All for Us. The song represents Rue’s feelings of not wanting to let her family down, knowing the struggles and pain they have gone through and not wanting to upset or disappoint them again. Everything she’s done to get clean and sober up has been because of them. She loves her family so dearly but in the end she just broke down again, all because of Jules and the mess that she got herself involved with pertaining to many of the other characters she meets throughout the show. I hope you guys enjoy the playlist and take a good listen to the lyrics and themes in each song! They might not be perfect, but to me they have a lot of commonalities with themes and specific moments and themes from the show!

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/playlist-for-euphoria/pl.u-AGAaiylr2l