#for dev patel actually of course

[lorephobic]

going. a little bit insane over barry in the green knight. genuinely giving one of the sluttiest performances of his life and for what

[neeska3]

Guys my brain is stuck on marauders actor AU.

Like, think about it. Marauders is a very popular pre-teen/teen series. They all start acting in the series when they are 11.

Remus plays the main character (ATYD style). He has acted since he was 4 years old and is very popular. Think Olsen twins. Played a kid in a very popular series, did some movies. He is beloved, but he kinda hates acting. Sirius, James, and Peter come from money/film backgrounds and are nepo babies.

They all become insanely close friends on set and literally spend every waking moment together. I think Remus would have some kind of chronic illness for sure, for which he has to go see a doctor once/twice a month.

They all grow up together and its very cute. Teen girls are going crazy for them and making fan cams and everything. I think Remus might be outed at 14 for dating guys and have to issue statements and all. It is very traumatic for him but good for the show because more people are tuning in. I think this is when Sirius and Remus become very close as well.

Sirius also gets publicly disowned by his family at 16. It's everywhere. He is giving Paris Hilton at this moment. James' family, of course, adopts him, but he is going through it. At 17, Sirius and Remus got their own apartment. They also become FWB/get into a secret relationship, IDK. There is too much going on which Sirius to be in an actual relationship, but he loves Moony, of course

Marauders come to an end when they all turn 18. Remus retires from acting and wants to go to college. He gets into an Ivy League college (you decide which one and what he is studying). Sirius hates the idea because Moony couldn't just up and leave, but well Remus kind of wanted to go away because his feelings for Sirius were so real, and well, the relationship wasn't, and he can't do this anymore. So, Remus leaves for America.

Sirius starts making music and has a very successful first album. Of course, all the songs are about Remus. Some are about Regulus, too.. I think James would be doing what Dev Patel is doing. Or he can be a commercially famous actor. He is very Swoon-worthy, IMO. Peter gets into comedy. Maybe SNL or straight-up stand-up comedy.

Sirius gets both James and Peter in divorce. They didn't even know Sirius and Remus had a thing. James makes a lot of trips to see Moony, though, because I love moonchaser friendship. I think Regulus will end up going to the same college as Remus, and they will become best friends. Remus also meets Lily there, and we will have our Moonwaterflower friendship. That's how James met Lily and Regulus, and my Jéguily agent came into play.

Idk how the reunion will work out. I am thinking Remus gets into a bad accident, and Sirius flies to America to see him, and they sort it out. Just to sprinkle in some agns,t you know. I love hurt/comfort so much. Sirius, take care of your man. Sirius and Reggie also reconcile on this trip.

Sirius releases album number two, and everyone knows Sirius Black is in love, but they don't know with whom. He wins an award for the album and thanks the love of his life Moony for it. THE CROWD GOES WILD.

I have more thoughts, but IDK if you all want to know lol.

[kutputli]

no but actually I really do want season 3 Dubai to be this endless parade of South Asian actors just casually traipsing in and out of the penthouse. Riz Ahmad walks through the frame carrying a cocktail glass. Dev Patel is spotted in the corner of the frame holding an hourglass. An entire episode when Rahul Kohli is seen painting a mural on a wall. Nick Mohammed drops a roller skate in the middle of some very dramatic argument scene.

It all culminates with Daniel on a zoom call with Louis, squinting at his screen and saying, "Is that actually...?" in reference to a guy setting a glass of blood by Louis' side.

"Thanks, Rahul" Louis says.

It's SRK of course.

[ilikethisacompletelynormalamount]

Since Andrew is taking some well deserved time away from the public at the moment, let's revisit (or visit for the first time, if you're new here) this stunning photoshoot from Mr. Porter, October 2019, when he was doing press for Modern Love and his Ripley casting had just been announced (yes, it's taken that long for it to come out).

Mr Andrew Scott’s big brown eyes are open wide in amused disbelief. “That was not an Irish accent,” he says in his musical Irish brogue. “That was a West Country accent.” How embarrassing for an interviewer who thought to connect with her subject by lightly mocking Mr Ed Sheeran’s ­– again – not-Irish accent in his cameo in Mr Scott’s episode of Amazon’s upcoming anthology series, Modern Love. Panic sets in. “It’s all right,” he says, soothingly. “It’s all right. Accents are such funny things.”

You know what else is a funny thing? Sitting with Fleabag’s “hot priest” – 2019’s most unexpected sex symbol – in a wine bar in Bermondsey, southeast London, talking about vulnerability, romcoms and love stories. Or, to take another angle: sitting across the table from the deranged Jim Moriarty and letting him pick out a rosé. That tickles, too. Having Hamlet express the need for a mini-break in, he doesn’t know, Copenhagen? Amsterdam, maybe? Surreal.

But actually, Mr Scott, who is wearing what can only be described as a modified sweatsuit (shorts and a zip-up sweatshirt, no shirt beneath) after our photoshoot isn’t funny funny. No, Mr Scott is serious: reserved and contemplative, but with the energy of a theatre nerd who, every once in a while, rests his head in his hands, cupping his fingers around his eyes to form blinkers while he thinks about a question you’ve just asked. In this quiet wine bar. He’s not an evil murderer, an agent of a shadowy organisation, or an overly excited (wink) cleric. He’s just a nice guy who sympathises about the difficulty of parsing the subtleties of the many accents in the British Commonwealth (and beyond).

Mr Scott is still hot off his run in Fleabag, even though the show ran from March to April of this year. A few weeks ago, he received a GQ Men of the Year Award, and just a few weeks after that, was in Los Angeles at the Emmy Awards where Fleabag cleaned up, winning three awards.

Of course, this is not Mr Scott’s big break. He’s been in the business since moving from Dublin to London 20 years ago to pursue acting. His dad worked in employment, helping young people find the right careers and his mother was an art teacher. “They were definitely into following your passion and doing that for the rest of your life,” he says. “Rather than, ‘You should be a lawyer,’ or whatever the fuck.”

And this has been a year for Mr Scott’s passions. Aside from Fleabag, and an episode of Black Mirror that landed on Netflix this June, he’s making a poignant appearance in the aforementioned _Modern Love,_­ which will drop all at once on 18 October. A series of discreet episodes, each one features its own starry cast (Mr Dev Patel, Mr John Slattery, Ms Tina Fey, Ms Anne Hathaway and, of course, Mr Ed Sheeran, among others), based on the much-loved New York Times column from which it takes its name. Mr Scott’s episode, which co-stars Ms Olivia Cooke and Mr Brandon Kyle Goodman, is loosely based on an early column written by the sex-and-relationships writer Mr Dan Savage about the unusual experience he and his partner had with adoption. “It’s just a really sweet little story. It’s not about a romantic relationship,” he says, (many Modern Love entries are not). “It’s simply about the relationships between people.”

He’s also currently filming in Cardiff for the BBC TV series of His Dark Materials. And maybe there’s a Marvel movie in his future? “Oh, fuck. Completely false,” he says. “Someone said, ‘Are you going to be in a thing?’ I said, ‘No,’ and I said, ‘There have been discussions.’ And it’s like ‘Andrew Scott has been in discussions.’”

That’s what happens when suddenly everyone wants you – to use Twitter parlance – to run them over with your car. The Priest, unlike his other characters, was a sex symbol, one that wears the hell (forgive me, Father) out of a cassock. But who could be surprised that Mr Scott turned a priest into the “Hot Priest” simply by saying “kneel”? (If you don’t know what that means, stop reading now, watch the show, come back.) In fact, he has been making words positively drip with meaning for nearly a decade.

Consider Moriarty, the insane criminal puppet master Mr Scott played for six years across four seasons of the BBC’s Sherlock, opposite Mr Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role. This particular Moriarty – Holmes’ famous nemesis, who has also been played by Messrs Orson Welles, John Huston and Sir Laurence Olivier – is indelible and utterly idiosyncratic. “If you’re going to do it, I don’t see there’s any point in doing it without putting your own stamp on it. I never look at any previous incarnations,” says Mr Scott. The result of this thinking – in Sherlock, at least – was a Moriarty who is all sing-song eeriness, molten physicality, and questionable cutaway collars. “He was quite theatrical; he was grotesque, sort of the archetypal villain,” he says. Archetypal, indeed: the role propelled him into the world of maniacal superfandom. He might not have received a dedicated stan nomenclature like his co-star (ahem, “Cumberbitches”), but the role made Mr Scott a household name.

Of course, establishing yourself as adept at playing evil incarnate probably leads to people wanting to cast you in more Moriarty-like roles. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yep, yeah,” he says, six times. “Yeah, exactly right,” (one more). “I turned down a lot. The shadow of that character took over for a little while.”  The craze got to be so tiresome that he asked the interviewer for a recent profile in The Guardian not to ask him about Moriarty at all (two years after he last appeared in the series). But now he sees a bigger picture, understands how being the object of abject obsession can be a good thing. “I think to answer your questions,” he says, tapping his fingers on the table, “it’s been really good fun.”

Mr Scott demurs when asked what it’s like to be the quencher of many thirsts on the internet. “People don’t say that to me. People don’t say, ‘Oh my God...” He shakes his head and trails off, perhaps in horror of what fans could be saying to him. It’s a little hard to believe that he wouldn’t be mobbed as he walks down the street. After all, one major British publication declared that Fleabag and the Priest were the only couple worth talking or tweeting about this year. (We guess Meghan and Harry, and Kim and Kanye can relax.)

“If I’m honest, it’s only really just starting to dawn on me, the global effect the show has had. People like a bit of transgression, they just do.” Any follower of his career, though, understands that it’s more than just good writing that makes him so very watchable (though good writing, is, politely, what he puts it down to). His chemistry is electric with Ms Phoebe Waller-Bridge, as it was electric with Mr Cumberbatch, and palpable even if you weren’t lucky enough to catch his rendition of Hamlet and – like this interviewer – had to watch a clip on YouTube.

Mr Scott’s character, Tobin, in Modern Love is the most subdued we might ever see him. There’s very little shouting, and none of the wide-eyed glaring that has defined his roles to date. Instead, he plays sweetly, quietly off a tiny baby, and tells goodnight stories to an adorable little girl. Perhaps this is a harbinger of softer roles to come. “I’d love to be in a romcom,” he says. “I love watching people fall in love, and how mad it is.” And yet: it was just announced that he will be playing Tom Ripley in a new adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley. So much for avoiding the nutters.

“What always amazes me is how innocent we are as human beings,” he says, sidestepping yet another probing question about being so irresistible right now. “We are very easily manipulated by stories. If someone puts scary music behind someone and they’re told this person’s eyes are absolutely terrifying, you go: ‘Oh my God, that person is scary, and his eyes totally freak me out.’”

“But then,” he continues, “[you’re told] ‘the priest is hot, wait till you see him’. And then you look at his eyes in a very different way and it’s the manipulation of the storytelling. It literally changes your character.” Hmmm.

“The success is the writing,” he tries, again, to argue. But it’s hard to be convinced that an actor who’s hopped from one iconic character to another is simply lucky with writing. He sees he’s not getting anywhere and changes tack. “Acting is just a way of experimenting with different parts of myself. Vulnerability is something I’m really, really interested in. I think vulnerability is at the centre of every character I’ve ever played even if they don’t appear or present as vulnerable.”

Throughout this conversation, his eyes have flicked around the bar, and he pauses from time to time to comment on the other patrons. At one point, a woman is coughing so vehemently, he stops mid-sentence to remark, humorously, on whether she might be dying. Now, he spots something on the bar. “Oh my God, she’s reading Brené Brown.” We both turn to stare at the book.

“She writes a lot about vulnerability,” he explains, excited. “[Being vulnerable] is how you get ahead. I really, really strongly believe that. [Vulnerability is] strong, it’s really strong.”

Perhaps this is the secret we’ve been trying to distil about his appeal: Mr Scott uses vulnerability to bring us all into a space of fear or sadness or lust or anger with him so that every character he plays – whether it’s the hottest priest in London, a gay man in Brooklyn trying to become a father, or a murderous villain – thrums with the heartbreak that comes with being human.

“The more I work,” he continues, “the more I just think every story is in some way concerned with love – or the lack of it.” He smiles an earnest little smile and we both know this is the place to stop. “That’s the way life is,” he says. “It’s so fast and furious.”

https://www.mrporter.com/en-hk/journal/fashion/the-softer-side-of-mr-andrew-scott-1052122

[royalsunshinehotel]

Hey, could you please (if your up to it, that is) do some headcanons with Dev Patel preferences about how each one will propose?

Proposal Preference (Dev Patel)

GIF by jcylenz

Anwar Kharral (Skins UK) Anwar's proposal is flashy of course. You really do see it coming from a mile away, and you better believe that the ring is insane. I don't think he's a comic book girlypop, but this doesn't mean he won't buy you something akin to Brie Larson's take on Thanos's Infinity gauntlet. If you're not careful, he's gonna take you to the top of a skyscraper and ask, and helicopter you off to an exotic location. Careful babe.

GIF by murddockz

Neal Sampat (The Newsroom) I think Neal gets kinda corny with it. He's away on an assignment, for about a month, and you're just at home and at work, languishing without him. You're chilling in the break room one night during a broadcast when Will proposes to you on Neal's behalf, during the broadcast. You turn around and your idiot has sneaked in to the building, and is currently on one knee waiting for an answer.

GIF by pateldevs

Saroo Brierly (LION) You guys have a beach proposal, obviously. The two of you, together, can come across as his being athletic, doing sporty things, and you watching from the beach, in a chair with an alcoholic beverage. It's a good dynamic, and it works. Saroo proposes, you can tell he's taking it so seriously, but there is definitely a seal corpse washed up nearby and he's actively trying to block it from your view, but it's okay. It's a good omen, you think.

GIF by miss-lauryn-hill

Sanjay Menha (The Wedding Guest) Honest to God, I think it's so quiet and so romantic. Jay spouts something that sounds like a Hozier song, how he'll "find you in every lifetime," and the two of you go back to bed asap. It's probably early in the morning, likely dawn, and you've just made him so happy.

GIF by spiderliliez

David Copperfield You see it coming from a mile away, because he's been agonizing over every single detail. It's beautiful, romantic, and a picnic, near the beach, but close enough to the house where you won't have to worry about sand and wind. To be honest, I feel like David may choke up and get sniffly before he actually gets the words out, so you have to simply take the ring box from him and lay on top of him to calm him down. He feels strongly about this okay?

GIF by jcylenz

Joshua Madika (Modern Love) If there's one thing that Joshua's gonna do, he's gonna make you feel special. But he's not gonna scare you. His money has been a divide between the two of you before, so he keeps it low key. Joshua buys a restaurant out for the evening so he gets to have a subtle flex, and have you all to himself. He enjoys watching you try every food you've ever seen online, and he loves it even more when you say tell him 'yes'.

GIF by ofallingstar

Gawain (The Green Knight) From the bottom of my heart, I truly think Gawain would rather have to propose to him. He is a prince, he is next in line for the throne. You will have to spell it out for him that you want him forever. These other bitches (read: princesses and aristocracy) shouldn't even try, to be honest.

GIF by irlvernon

The Kid (Monkey Man) I think the marriage concept is pretty foreign to him, but if the situation arises where he should need to braid you a blade of grass, he's gonna do it. He's gonna be with you forever, and he's going to do it.

[sakebytheriver]

/I/ don't know anything about India or the hindutva, care to elaborate? I chose uh, christianity (despite my crippling religious trauma) mostly because I was also in the new age movement for a time and while christianity is BAD bad there's loads of normal people in it meanwhile people who take astrology really fucking seriously are the worst sorts of people to be in intimate contact with, from personal experience. What are the Other Crimes.

I mean, I'm not exactly a great source for it either, there's a lot of history behind the current situation in the Indian subcontinent, that can't really be summed up in a tumblr post, it's a very big region with a lot of fractured cultures and histories that each fill entire textbooks, for the longest time the region was mostly made of a lot of seperate tribes with different languages and dialects and cultures that had a lot of different conflicts with each other until British colonialism came to the region and forcibly united them or cut them off with the current boarders which has just resulted in a lot issues between cultures now that the Western colonialism of the region is not as obvious and overt as it was before, the Hindutva is a relatively recent ideology that came about in the 1920s and was possibly inspired by European fascism and ethnonationalism and has in recent times gained a lot more traction with the public and has inspired a lot of violence and rhetoric against Muslims, in fact the recent movie Monkey Man by Dev Patel touches on this topic a little bit with the main character being a Muslim from a more remote tribe that was the victim of Hindutva violence

Of course that's just about Hindu supremacy not specifically astrology, but considering that Vedic astrology itself is a core belief of Hinduism and was developed as a part of the religion's auxilary disciplines and is connected to the study of the Vedas it plays a part in the current fascist beliefs of the Hindutva

As for astrology itself not connected to the Hindutva it's still being offered as a legitimate scientific degree at many Indian universities and is still considered an actual science by the courts/government despite many studies done by real scientists in the region and the work they've been doing to get it classified as a pseudoscience and remove the ideology from any type of legitimate standing, there's been several court cases and different rulings over the debate, some classifying it as a science and others that didn't, it's been an ongoing struggle for the scientific community in the country as they fight to rightfully get astrology classified as a pseudoscience and have the ideology regulated especially in an educational setting

The idea that astrology is not being used to subjugate anyone is patently false, perhaps it doesn't have the same level of bloody history of colonialism that Christianity has attached to it, but ultimately both ideologies/religions have been used to hurt people and as excuses for the bigotries and biases that those groups of people already held regardless of their belief system

But also, like I said I am absolutely not a source for this stuff, the knowledge I have is fairly surface level, I know enough to know that astrology is not the same type of fringe ideology it is in the West within the Indian subcontinent and that the Hindutva has been ramping up their ethnonationalist rhetoric against Muslims and other religions in the region using the Hindu religion as their battering ram the same way that the West used Christianity as their battering ram

And of course this is all separate from the Hellenistic astrology which was developed in Egypt way way long ago before it was conquered by Persia and then it gained more traction and solidified into an ideology of divination under the rule of Alexander the Great getting spread into Greece as Alexander's empire expanded and then was subsequently adopted by the Roman empire from the Greek influence and for a while astological divination was very popular in the Roman empire. There's debate about whether Vedic astology got its start/influence from Hellenistic astrology, but there doesn't seem to be concrete proof either way. In the West currently Hellenistic astrology is the type you're gonna encounter at the craft fairs and the hippie get togethers and like once again if you don't believe that astrology being used by the Roman empire led to unnecessary bloodshed just kind of tells me you really have a fairly narrow scope on human history and politcal ideology

A lot of this information I pretty much knew already but I also just went to wikipedia and did some surface level research as I'm typing this to make sure I keep my facts straight

I suppose my ultimate point is that both Christianity and astrology are harmful ideologies that masquerade as an ultimate truth, but mainstream Christianity has been fairly mellowed through time and the commercialization of the holidays, a "mainstream Christian" is more likely to be a fairly normal person who just believes in God and Jesus and goes to Church to pray every Sunday, I knew a lot of mainstream Christians I went to Catholic school for most of my life and of course there were inlaid bigotries and biases to the religion that a lot of my peers upheld, but there were also a lot of my peers who didn't uphold those beliefs and instead upheld the main teachings of Jesus which are that of compassion and love for your neighbor. I've also met a lot of people who believe in astrology and that's also a mixed bag of beliefs and internal biases and for the most part I've met people who are fairly normal about it and don't let it dictate their entire lives but I have also met people who do and the fact that I've met several people who have looked me straight in the eyes and said "astrology is actually very scientific you just have to research it" with no hint of irony scares me to no end, there have been countless studies and scientific experiements done to prove that astrology is patently false and has been classified as a pseudoscience on every level, it's also such a gateway drug to cult shit especially the way they all tell me to "do more research" into the ideology, very much a pipeline talking point

I just think there's a bit of a difference between someone believing in a higher power that works mostly as a philosophical jumping off point to direct the community into working for the collective versus an ideology based on divination of destiny and classifying human beings based on the positions of giant balls of gas in the ether that masquerades as an actual science and absolute fact

Neither are good, don't get me wrong here, I am an atheist and a secular humanist, religion and God are not real either, but religion and God were invented for the purpose of community building in the early days of human civilization, astrology was developed for similar reasons, but there's a branching off point where astrology is now trying to be taken seriously as a science when it has been debunked over and over again while mainstream Christianity is solidly classified as a religion and a faith based system, (we are talking about mainstream Christianity rn and not the batshit crazy Christian scientists ok)

I guess I'll end this very rambly post that got longer than I intended it to be by saying that the idea that astrology has never being used to spill the blood of innocent people is just a very narrow scope on the actual history of our species

[in-love-daily]

Built for this

Hey guys, this is a little story I put together as I literally couldn't stop thinking of Dev Patel after watching The Wedding Guest recently. I hope you enjoy it!!!!

Pairing: Dev Patel x Reader

Y/N is a 24-year-old architect and a close friend of the groom. She designed the bride’s stunning mansion, now transformed into the enchanting setting for the wedding. Among the guests is Dev Patel, a 28-year-old actor and also a friend of the groom. Though they've never met before, their paths cross amid the vibrant festivities of the three-day celebration—an encounter neither of them expected.

You’ve always loved weddings. The food, the music, the drama, the dance circles that get wilder as the night gets longer—what’s not to love? But this one wasn’t just any wedding. This was Rohan’s wedding—your childhood friend, your unshakable cheerleader through architecture school—and he had insisted you design the house where the bride’s family would host the three-day celebration.

So now here you are, standing in the marble foyer that you sketched, you modeled, you watched grow brick by brick from the ground up—and it’s humming with color, movement, and a hundred voices wrapped in soft saris and sharp sherwanis.

Somewhere near the staircase, someone’s shouting about the playlist. Children are chasing each other across the courtyard. A dhol beats steadily in the distance. Your creation has come alive.

This is what you built.

And you could stand here all evening, just breathing it in—this house that grew under your hands, line by line, brick by brick.

Then—

“Y/N!”

You flinch, just a little. Rohan’s voice—loud, teasing, familiar—cuts through the swirl of sound and scent. You blink, pulled back to reality. Your eyes dart toward the staircase where the voice came from.

The groom, waving you over with both hands, grinned like he knew exactly what kind of moment he was interrupting. But he’s not alone.

The crowd shifts, just slightly—just enough for a gap to open.

And in the middle of it all, you spot him... Dev Patel.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t know he would be here. He and Rohan had worked together on several short films years ago, and they’d stayed in touch. You’d seen his face in pre-wedding photos on Instagram, tagged casually among the guests. But still—it hits different seeing him in real life.

He’s standing by the open-air bar, a lime wedge balanced on the rim of his glass. His kurta is a deep, rich forest green, embroidered with delicate gold along the collar. His sleeves are rolled up just enough to show his forearms, and when he smiles—god, when he smiles—it’s like the room subtly adjusts to him. Like the light knows where to fall.

You try to look away. You really do.

But for a second too long, you don’t. You exhale, smooth your hair, and continue walking forward.

But of course, that’s the moment he looks up. And he sees you.

There’s a second—just one—where your eyes meet. You think maybe he’ll glance away politely, the way celebrities do when they’re recognized. Instead, he raises an eyebrow. He tilts his head slightly, curious. Like he’s trying to place you. There’s no sparkly soundtrack or slow zoom. Just a moment—steady.

"This is Y/n, my best friend." Rohan starts. "She's the one who did all this" raising one hand and gesturing broadly around the room.

“You decorated all this?” he asks.

You chuckle, somehow keeping your voice steady. "Not really. I’m actually the architect. This whole mansion is my design.”

He glances around, eyes wide. “Seriously? You did all this?”

“Guilty, every wall, every room… I’m basically the blueprint.”

“Wow.” He gives a low whistle, his eyes still scanning the space, clearly impressed. “I bet all your projects are as stunning as you. I’m seriously impressed.” Stepping just a little closer, intrigued, he extends his hand with a playful smile. “I’m Dev.”

You shake it, your pulse picking up. “Hi.”

“Hey, she’s like a sister to me, mate,” Rohan chimes in, giving Dev a light punch to the shoulder. You almost forgot he was there, watching the whole thing unfold.

Before you can say anything, the bride’s mom pulls you away. “Sweetheart, Aishu is looking for you. If she doesn't see you now, she's gonna start panicking. She doesn't even want me. ”

“Amma, did she ask for me?” Rohan giggles.

“I’ll find you later,” Dev calls out, his voice a little louder than expected. He quickly shoots a sheepish smile as several uncles give him side-eyes. You can feel a light blush creeping up your neck as you look away, trying to suppress a smile.

As an hour or so passed, Dev decided to track you down later. He took his time, weaving through the crowd, keeping an eye out for any sign of you.

As he moves through the wedding chaos, he finally spots you, standing with a few guests, helping Aishu with her lehenga so, god forbid, no one trips over it. Waiting for a moment when you’re not surrounded by people, he steps forward, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Found you,” he says softly, his voice light and teasing. “Guess I wasn’t going to let you slip away that easily.” His eyes are warm, and playful, as if he’s been thinking about this moment all along.

The first spark is small, almost delicate—just a flicker in your chest when his eyes meet yours. But it doesn’t go away. It builds, slow and steady, as you chat beside the bar.

You share how you met Rohan back in school and Aishu in college, how designing Aishu's family home was your first big project. You laugh, admitting that setting up Rohan and Aishu was one of your best ideas yet. Dev listens intently, clearly amused by the story.

He then tells you about a recent film shoot in Italy, recounting how he ended up sunburned by the third day and had to improvise, rigging an umbrella to a camera rig just to survive. His laugh is easy, and the way he tells it makes the whole situation sound both ridiculous and kind of impressive.

You laugh, maybe a little too hard. He doesn’t seem to mind.

The evening flows into night. You both end up on the terrace during the mehndi, where fairy lights cast soft shadows across Dev’s cheekbones and the scent of rosewater lingers in the air. A cousin tries to drag you into a dance circle and you politely decline—until Dev offers his hand.

You hesitate. He tilts his head, grinning.

“C’mon. If I embarrass myself, at least we’ll both go down together.”

That’s how it begins. The dancing. The jokes. The shared glances.

By day two, you find yourselves paired up almost automatically. At lunch, he finds you at a corner table and slides into the seat next to you like he’s been doing it for years.

"Here, try the paneer," Dev said, nodding toward his plate with a grin, "it's the best thing they’ve got—trust me."

He tears off a piece of naan, scoops up some paneer tikka, and absentmindedly holds it out as he continues talking about a chaotic set day in Mumbai. You lean forward and take it straight from his hand, lips brushing against his fingers as you do. Dev blinks, clearly caught off guard—but then a slow blush creeps across his cheeks. He laughs softly, shaking his head. “Guess I’m feeding you now?” You smirk and shrug like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “You started it.” He doesn’t stop smiling for the rest of the meal.

After Rohan gives his big toast at the sangeet, you both cheer too loudly and then duck behind your hands like guilty schoolkids. At one point, you catch him watching you. Not in a creepy, lingering way—but with a quiet kind of focus, like he’s storing the moment. You wonder if he’s memorising your laugh. Or the way you tap your fingers against your glass when you’re trying not to cry during a slow song.

You don’t ask. But you don’t look away either.

Later that night, away from the crowd, you found yourselves tucked into a quiet corner of the garden, fairy lights casting golden patterns on the patio stones. You were barefoot—your heels discarded long ago—and you hadn’t even noticed when Dev knelt in front of you, holding something delicate between his fingers. “You dropped this,” he said, revealing the silver anklet you’d thought you’d lost during the sangeet.

Without asking, he gently lifted your foot and fastened it around your ankle, the cool metal brushing your skin, his touch maddeningly soft. “There,” he murmured, glancing up at you with a smirk. “Perfect.” You could feel the heat rush to your cheeks. “You really know how to embarrass a girl,” you mumbled, looking away. Dev chuckled, rising to his feet—but you were already turning to flee, heart hammering, the sound of your own laughter chasing you.

That’s when you felt the sudden tug. You stopped short, looking down to see your dupatta caught on something. Dev followed your gaze and raised his wrist—your chiffon fabric was wrapped around the face of his watch, the corner clinging like it didn’t want to let go. “Well,” he said, grinning as he closed the space between you, “looks like your dupatta has better instincts than you do.” Your heart flipped as he reached out to gently free the fabric—his fingers grazing your arm on purpose this time. You didn’t run again.

The final day arrives faster than you expect. It’s a blur of ceremonies, family photos, stolen moments. You wear a deep maroon lehenga that makes you feel like royalty, even if your heels are killing you.

Dev finds you during the evening reception. He’s ditched the kurta for a well-fitted suit, and when he sees you, his mouth actually drops open a little before he catches himself.

“You look—”

“Don’t say it,” you interrupt with a smirk. “Too predictable.”

He chuckles. “Fine. I won’t say you look beautiful. But just know I’m thinking it very loudly.”

The music starts to slow down around midnight. Most of the kids have fallen asleep on couches or been scooped up by aunties. The dance floor thins out. Someone brings out sparklers.

You and Dev are still dancing.

The lights above you flicker like stars. His hands are at your waist. Yours loop around his neck. You sway together, closer than necessary, but neither of you pull away.

“Kind of don’t want this to end,” he murmurs.

“Me neither,” you admit.

And then—like gravity just gave up—he kisses you.

It’s not hesitant. It’s warm and certain, like he’s known exactly how you’d feel in his arms. His lips are soft and his fingers curl against the small of your back. You feel like a fuse has been lit under your skin.

You’re breathless when you pull back. He’s smiling like he can’t believe any of this is real.

“Wanna get out of here?” he asks softly.

“Where?”

He leans in, whispering, “My room’s just down the hall.”

You blink. Then grin. “Lead the way.”

You make your way through the halls of the house you built, hand in hand, dodging sleepy guests and ducking behind potted plants like you’re in a rom-com. When you reach his door, he pushes it open gently. The room is quiet, lit only by a table lamp in the corner.

You pause, halfway through the doorway. Dev turns to you.

“You okay?”

You nod. “Just... haven’t done this at a wedding before.”

He steps forward, his hands brushing your waist. “No pressure. We don’t have to—”

You silence him with a kiss.

______________________________________________________________

As our lips touched, the world around us melted away. The soft hum of the lamp in the corner, the distant laughter of wedding guests, and even my own racing heart all faded into nothingness.

Dev's mouth was warm and gentle against mine, his lips tracing a slow circle as he deepened our kiss. I felt myself melting into him, my body swaying towards his like a flower bending towards the sun.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as our tongues danced together in a sensual waltz. His hands slipped under my nightdress, sending shivers down my spine as he caressed my skin with tender fingers.

The room seemed to spin around us - or maybe it was just me losing myself in Dev's embrace. Time stood still as we lost ourselves in each other's eyes, our breaths mingling together like two rivers merging into one.

I felt like I was drowning in the depths of his eyes. They were pools of warm honey, filled with a sweetness that drew me in and refused to let go.

Dev's fingers trailed down my spine, sending shivers coursing through my veins as he pulled me closer. His lips left mine for a moment, tracing a path across my cheekbone before returning to claim mine once more.

I moaned softly into his mouth as he deepened our kiss. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before - like being transported to a world where nothing existed except for us two lost souls adrift on a sea of passion.

The room around us began to fade away again, replaced by the sound of our own ragged breathing and the thrumming beat of our hearts.

I pulled away from Dev's lips, my chest heaving with excitement. We stood there for a moment, our eyes locked in a fierce stare.

Dev's hands still rested on my hips, his fingers digging gently into the fabric of my nightdress. I could feel his heart pounding against mine, like two drums beating in tandem.

______________________________________________________________

You woke to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath your cheek, the scent of his skin warm and familiar now. Dev was still asleep, one arm draped lazily across your waist, his curls a soft mess against the pillow. The morning light had barely started to stretch through the curtains when—BANG BANG BANG.

A frantic knock on the door jolted you both upright.

“Dev? You in there, bro?” came Rohan’s voice from the other side. “Have you seen Y/N? She’s not answering her phone and her stuff’s still in the guest room!”

You both froze, wide-eyed.

Dev clamped a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh. You turn around to shove your face into the pillow to muffle the giggle rising in your throat, but Dev grips you tighter, pulling you back.

He called back, voice just a little too calm, “Uh—no, haven’t seen her, man! I’ll keep an eye out!”

There was a pause. Then footsteps retreating down the hallway.

You both burst into laughter the second the coast was clear.

“Smooth,” you whispered, sitting up and brushing your hair behind your ears.

“I try,” he said, stretching. “So… we should probably make a move before anyone else comes looking for the ‘missing architect.’”

He threw on his kurta from the night before while you scooped up your scattered jewelry. After a few shared smiles and quiet jokes, you helped him pack his things—folding his shirt, tossing in his charger, him double-checking for his passport even though he wasn’t leaving for another day.

There was something oddly sweet about the whole thing. Not rushed, just… gently chaotic. Intimate. Like two people who’d been doing this for years.

“Is it always this dramatic after you spend the night with someone?” you teased.

“Only when there’s a groom banging on the door,” he replied, tossing you a wink.

Then you both tiptoed down the hallway toward your guest room, stifling laughter like teenagers sneaking in after curfew. Once inside, you yanked open your suitcase and began tossing in outfits, shoes, and skincare products with the efficiency of a girl who was late for a family brunch.

Dev sat on the bed, folding up a dupatta with surprising care. “Do you always pack like a hurricane’s about to hit?”

“Only when I wake up next to a Hollywood star and forget there’s a wedding wrap-up breakfast in twenty minutes,” you shot back.

You zipped the suitcase halfway but couldn’t quite get it closed. You sighed and plopped down on it, bouncing a little as you tried to force it shut.

Dev crossed the room, laughing, and placed a hand on your shoulder to steady you. “Here, let me—”

But instead of finishing the zipper, he leaned down and kissed you. Slow, deep, and warm—the kind of kiss that said I’m going to remember this morning for a very long time.

You kissed him back just as fiercely, hands curling into the front of his kurta.

And then—

“WHAT THE—”

The door swung open.

There stood Rohan. And next to him, Aishu, with a half-empty mimosa in her hand and her mouth agape.

You and Dev froze, still locked in each other’s arms.

“Y/N?” Rohan blinked. “So… this is where you were?”

Dev glanced at you, then back at them. “Surprise?”

[willowsallen]

hi! this is your rphserver gift giver 💕 ! i'd love to know who are some of your favorite fcs? and who are some fcs you wish had more resources?

hi it's your secret santa again (back again so soon) with more questions because i am impatient! first of all and most importantly, i hope you're doing well! and second of all, i tried to do a little digging but figured i'd just ask you if you have any muses, ocs, or any characters you love and identify with. who are some of your favorite blorbos!

hi mi luv!!!!!!! ok i will put everything under a readmore cause idk how long i'm gonna talk for<3 SKJAHKSJHA

favorite fcs: alisha boe, khadijha red thunder, sabrina carpenter, maitreyi ramakrishnan, oscar isaac, adria arjona, cody christian, kiowa gordon, ryan destiny, laura harrier, cierra ramirez, simone ashley, lizeth selene, margaret qualley, reneé rapp, dev patel, camila mendes, megan suri, harris dickinson, taylor russell!!!!!

more resources: ofc anybody above<3 (and keep in mind idk if these people have 1 gif pack or 54529646 SKJAHSKAH i just luv them bad that i fear they deserve more) but specifically from my list above: maitreyi, ryan, reneé, and taylor!!! and of course some extras not mentioned: daniella perkins, samantha logan, greta onieogou, gideon adlon, georgina campbell, isabela merced, yandeh sallah, keith powers!!!!!

favorite muses: so i actually just revamped my old indie and i'm getting back into the swing of old (and new) muses!!! but currently top 4 of my favs currently are: sebastian (rudy pankow - old muse) who's a hacker and is a complete idiot otherwise (recently just wrote out "eat my farts, dude" in a reply so........) but is sweet and corny and kind; indigo (samantha logan - new muse) she's a tennis star who was "never good enough" by her parents so now she works 5x as hard and still doesn't believe she's talented, is also sooo kind and soft spoken and i luv her bad

muses contd: hayes (cody christian - newish muse) he's an f1 driver and is so full of himself and egotistical and is only "nice" to people he thinks are on the "same level" as him (money or talent wise) and i haven't gotten him to the point of genuinely being nice yet but i'm sure he contains multitudes KSJHAKSJHA; jackson (chris evans - OLDDDDD muse) i've had jackson longer than any muse i'm still writing, he's a bodyguard, very stoic, quiet, very professional and mysterious, his entire "life" is his job and he was raised in a very domineering household so he's still not sure of who he is at like 40-something years old x

ok i hope that all made sense KSAHSKJHA thank you for these questions i'm very excited<3

[ocie-vt]

Thoughts on ARCADEA / AWOL

Quite a while ago now I played the ARCADEA demo on stream with my good friend Purea Patel… I'm only writing this review(?) so much later because Ive just uploaded the VoD.

To get things started, ARCADEA Is an upcoming RPGmaker game in which you take control of Maisie, a mute girl on a quest to find her brother Jas. To do this, we must go through the world of Arcadia. It should be noted that Arcadia here does not refer to the Greek province, but instead refers to one of the interesting phenomena that can be found here: you see, In everyone's dreams lies an Arcade machine which represents their innermost psyche or something. It seems that we can go into these arcade machines for… reasons. Something to do with a cat? Here's the problem with writing a review of sorts from memory months after I've played something, A lot of the exactitudes of the game story have become hazy in my mind. For instance, I remember there was a talking cat who acted slightly sinisterly and seemed to be important somehow… The only other thing I remember about him is that we made him Australian for some reason. A lot of my recollection is like this, so from now on ill just mention the stuff that's stuck with me the most about the game.

Firstly, I must mention the art here, especially the character portraits. It's very good, I feel like all the main characters have very distinct designs, they're all vaguely colour coded in these nice lighter colours which both makes every character easy to tell apart which also giving them a nice sense of cohesion. It's all very cute, and this carries over to the level art, which also has pleasing pallets whilst keeping a good sense of variety between zones. Secondly, I must mention the minigames: they are of paramount importance in a game literally structured around arcade machines, and they most certainly do not disappoint. Even this demo has quite a few varied little gameplay segments, and it honestly does better in them than even some other extremely well produced or popular RPGmaker games like Pocket mirror, which relies a bit too heavily on variations of the chase sequence. Of course ARCADEA isn't exempt from having one or two chasers, close to the end there's a chase sequence against a paintbrush monster thing… but at least there is a mechanic there where you can leave bait for the monster to stall it a little. The other games are a bit more interesting though, for instance there is a puzzle in which you have to stand on a certain spot and then line up a piece of paper to reveal a symbol that tells you what direction to go next. It's a bit like that one forest sequence from Metal Gear, except in Metal Gear, the devs just left you to flounder until you got out. There's also one or two quick time button presses that I was very bad at… but it's also an interesting change of pace from other games I've played.

Last thing I'd want to mention here is that in one scene you are put in a greenhouse and told to draw one of a few plants highlighted in the room, except there was also a random set of vines highlighted that had nothing to do with this, and I was very disappointed when I couldn't try to select the random set of vines over all the pretty flowers to draw.

Anyway, all in all I had a very good time playing ARCADEA, and I'm excited for the full release. I would highly suggest that you play the game for yourself, you can download it here.

After we finished that demo on stream, me and Purea still had a fair amount of energy left, so we decided to look at the other game that the ARCADEA dev has worked on, A Wave Of Lights (AWOL). It's a cute little visual novel about a shut in girl meeting an alien girl and then, like, being gay for two hours. I've not much to say on the actual game itself since it's relatively short, It's just well written and the art is also cute. I will say that, uhh, I made some choices on the stream's end that might have impacted the drama of it a tad… When we played it we decided to voice one character each and whilst Purea gave a pretty neutrally toned voice to the main character, I heard that the other character was an alien and like… I can only decide the voice I went with as somewhere between Skeletor and a Dalek, because alien. It was really something going into the more dramatic or serious scenes with the characters opening up to each other and whatnot, where Purea was playing it 100% straight, and I was doing the silliest goddamed voice I have ever attempted.

to close this out, I should say that the Dev for Arcadia is named Aishin, and you can find them here on tumblr @arcadea-rpg.

Whilst Aishin was the artist for AWOL, it seems that the writer and lead dev listed was Tabby Wright, who you can find here.

AWOL itself can be downloaded from here, and finally you can find the VoD for my stream here.

[mimiatmidnight]

Have you seen Monkey Man? I have heard solid stuff about it but haven’t gone out to the theatre yet. Def want to go see Civil War!! Though I know I will be stress eating before and after it😂😂😂

Haha yes it is SO stressful, but phenomenally crafted. Truly such an experience. On the one hand I kinda get the controversy around it, I guess, since it's marketed so heavily around the, y'know, "Civil War" in question, so if you went in expecting a focus on real-world politics, yes of course a movie about photojournalism and human relationships would feel weird and empty and frustratingly apolitical in comparison. But idk man . . . lots of times I expect a movie to be one thing and it turns out its focus is on something else entirely, and I just go "Oh ok." And I pivot to what the movie is actually about?? Strange concept I know . . .

Omg Monkey Man was SO GOOD. I know people find it derivative of its genre predecessors, but I myself really haven't seen much action/martial arts(?) movies ever, so everything for me was extremely fresh and exciting! More simple narratively than I was expecting, but that's fine. It is GORGEOUS and super fun! Dev Patel is the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my entire life.

[toomuchlovereviews]

Green Knight (2021)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dev Patel, please reject me so that I may move on!!! I could watch this man make lunch and I would be obsessed with it! His acting is always so moving, a skill that has stayed with him even in his youth.

Also, I absolutely adored the colour palette and scenery in this film. Some of the forest and foliage shots made me really miss the flora at home. Beautifully and wonderfully done and it matches the medieval, organic choir songs. It felt like I was watching the movie in a patch of soft, dewy grass.

It has been quite a few years since I actually read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and it was done so well. It made me nostalgic for the period dramas I would read and watch, but satisfied the terror and suspenseful kick that I have been gravitating towards lately.

Final note: major props to the Green Knight for being able to act so well under the prosthetics. Even in the subtleties of expression changes, he was able to say so much.

I cannot say enough good things about this one.

You should watch this if:

You like gothic romantic shots that feel dreamy

You are a sucker for medieval stories

The morally-ambiguous antagonist is compelling

Similar titles:

any A24 horror film, they’ve just got something about them 🤌🏻

Princess Mononoke (1997) (traversing a strange and fantastic environment with an unknown threat afoot? yes, of course)

[mogwai-movie-house]

Wes Anderson: The Roald Dahl Stories

An unforeseen surprise gift from Wes Anderson: four short films made for Netflix adapted from the stories of Roald Dahl, all starring the same core cast of Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel and Rupert Friend. Collected together, they make up the running time for a second Anderson movie of 2023, but I don't think they would have worked particularly well as such, mostly because of the patchy nature of the three shorter ones, as we shall see.

Best by far, and longest, is The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar ★★★★★★★☆☆☆, a 40-minute tale of a man learning supernatural powers and what he decides to do with them. Though made on a smaller scale, I actually found it to be a more enjoyable and stronger film all round than the 'proper' Anderson film of the year, Asteroid City, and it has everything one delights in with the work of that director: sumptuous colour, quirky humour, and endless attention to detail.

The other three, Poison, The Rat Catcher and The Swan ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆, are considerably shorter (around 15 mins), noticeably weaker, and, I have to assume, made on a tighter budget. It was strange to realize almost immediately while watching Poison that I'd seen the same story only last year, in a Dahl-scripted episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, from back in the 1950s. The mood, of course, was entirely different and Wes Andersoned, but the ending was weirdly and needlessly changed and so left without a pay-off, petering out to nothing, making it the weakest of the three and of Anderson's films in general.

Having said that, all three still visually look fantastic and are made with a good deal of idiosyncratic imagination, that you will never be able to find anywhere else, so all are worth a watch at least the once.

[blatantlyhidden]

for the sleepover thing: recommend me one movie, one tv show, one song and one activity!! ily!! <333

okay so a movie that i always recommend to people is The Green Knight. it is literally my favourite movie, i love it so much. it's A24 so if you like that, you'll sort of know what you're in for. also it has Dev Patel which...yes. (also random fact: you see his (not actual of course) cum in the movie)

as for the song i recommend L'enfer by Stromae because it's simply incredible

the tv show i recommend is Dark. if you like a story with a bit of mindfuck then this is for you lmao also it's just really fucking good

and lastly i recommend painting clothes with bleach as an activity. i'm currently painting the käärijä logo on the back of a black t-shirt and it looks sick. i already did it with a black tote bag and i absolutely love the stained effect the bleach gives.

anyways those are all! thank you so much for the ask!! ily <3333

[subsequentibis]

2, 7, 9 and 10 for laz, sal and john?

wooo let's put this one under a cut!

2. Why does your oc look the way they do? What are your reasons for their appearance?

sal is pretty heavily inspired by most of the tall gangly awkward sweaty weirdo scientist/researcher characters i recall fondly from a lot of media i liked growing up, plus hair that's fun to draw and that mimics the fungus's tendril shapes. she started out looking fairly different as my vtm character, but then i fell a little in love with dev patel (and this was also when i was still drawing her as a man) so she ended up closer to his look in david copperfield. purple is a color that doesn't exist much in nature, or so i've heard, so it can have a mystical/spooky/unnatural feeling to it, especially i think a kind of paler ghostly purple, which is why i chose it for her sweater. similarly i gave her grey eyes because i feel like they give off a slightly unusual or unnatural vibe while also being very beautiful. she gets a turtleneck because i gave her my fear of/discomfort with having my neck touched to an extreme degree, she doesn't even like feeling the wind on it. the rest of her clothes are brown/dark tones to give her an earthy and grounded feel. i'm not very good at thinking of outfits so i made her like a cartoon character that only has one set of clothing but just gave her sensory issues so she has a whole wardrobe of nearly identical sweaters, pants, and jackets for comfort. originally i was going to have the fungus able to chameleon-esque shift color so it would be mimicking her hand and eye almost exactly except for almost imperceptible lines where the tendrils meet, but i ended up not liking that idea so much and gave her gloves & a glass eye to hide the bits that she loses over the course of the story. she's long and spindly because i tend to think of her hunched up and curling in on herself, like she's always felt just a little bit too big and is trying to compensate for it, and also because that's very fun to draw.

lazarus is pretty heavily inspired by john constantine, sam vimes, columbo, hellboy, any cigar/cigarette-chomping long coat-wearing detective or investigator with a dry sense of humor. he's gone through a couple versions actually, he was my character in several different ttrpgs until i settled on him as a detective npc for an urban shadows campaign i ran and that really nailed down a lot for him looks and attitude-wise. grey raincoat to help him blend in a little more with the city, i like to think he could lean against a concrete wall and almost disappear. big stompy boots or heeled shoes because he's short as hell and wants to look taller. red as an accent color for blood/fire/etc. actually i debated red eyes as well for a bit and finally settled on orange because, of all things, pilferingapples drew bahorel with these really lovely orangey whiskey colored eyes and that always struck me as gorgeous. i just cranked up the orange to make them obviously not natural and as a connection to lava. he's a bit of wish fulfillment for me as a trans man - short but with a broader build, fairly strong shoulders and hips but a bit of stomach to fill out between so he's not really hourglass-y at all. hairy all over, big obvious top surgery scars that will get an update to probably look like flames or claw marks soon, and covered in interesting scars. i always wanted to come up with a story behind all of them but i only ever figured out ones for two, one on his knee and the brand on his chest that ties him to his demonic patron. he had a shitty tiny ponytail for a long time because i love getting my hair just long enough to have a tiny shitty ponytail, but his hair started getting longer over time and now i like him with long hair. cringefail facial hair. he cannot grow a mustache to save his life but that's not gonna stop him.

ok so john. john was originally a hotel podcast oc, as in like i had this idea that the owner might have once been a human guy and got yoinked and twisted to fit the hotel's needs. so john was just my design for the owner but a little more saturated, like he goes semi-greyscale when he gets got. i ditched the turquoise bolo tie when i decided i wanted him in underbelly and i'm trying to fill his wardrobe out a little more with clothes that a divorced dad trying to find his feet again after a painful break up might pick for 'fun'. where laz was my wish fulfillment as a trans man back in college, when i was barely beginning to believe i could possibly be genderweird, john is my wish fulfillment as a trans man now. tall, beefy, hairy, big shaggy sideburns. he's got less thought put into him than the others because he's not been around as long, give him a few years to mature in the soup and i'm sure he'll develop.

7. Does your oc have any notable skills or good personality traits? Why did you give them those traits? Why do they exist in-universe?

see prev answer for sal!

lazarus is somewhat similar to sal in that he's quick to pick up on tiny details, but i would call him more street smart than book smart. i wanted the two of them to have a bit of a battle of the minds going on, not quite like death note levels but more like your average columbo episode. laz is in total control of himself at pretty much all times, as well - he is driven primarily by anger, but he's had enough time to figure out how to use anger instead of being used by it. sometimes he loses control but it's rare. he has a good relationship with a lot of people in the underbelly, he makes a point to help out where he can and engages in a lot of favor-swapping. i really want him to be a pillar of the community sort of guy, someone really intensely invested in the space they've helped to build because he's been aimless and wandering in the past and it's no way to live. he's a bit world weary and can come across as cynical, but deep down even if he doesn't believe in the inherent goodness of man, he thinks man can be dragged kicking and screaming towards some kind of goodness.

john is a good natured and good hearted kind of guy, despite his flaws he has a fairly strong sense of right and wrong and he's really fiercely loyal and protective of his loved ones. frankly see that one post that's like 'character that's submissive in the way a guard dog is submissive'. he's lost people and relationships in the past for various reasons so when he finds something that sticks he's desperate to keep them close and safe and intact.

9. In a group dynamic, what kind of role does the oc usually fill? Are they a worry wart? A troublemaker? The straight man?

sal is the worrier for sure and the one who goes home early because she's not having fun. laz is the one you think is the straight man until a third act subversion and then he's either covered in other people's blood or has challenged the biggest guy in the bar to a drinking contest that he will win and then make out with said guy. john is the designated driver.

10. What is your favorite trait regarding your oc?

i love sal's cowardice. it's really meaningful and special to me how little she wants to do with anything happening to her and how she figures out how to deal with it anyway and succeed while never really getting over how much she wants to just go home and get in bed.

my favorite lazarus trait is his anger, because i love a character who lets their rage bubble and boil under the surface while appearing completely calm until they just explode, but like a controlled demolition.

i love john's ability to adapt. when he ends up in the underbelly it's not long at all before he's got a stable job & a place to live & people who call him friend because he just goes with the flow and makes it work. yeah he's got goat eyes and horns and he sleeps on a pile of hay now bc he's too big for his bed most nights but hey, could be worse!

[himboskywalker]

Do you have any favorite movie and book recs from this last year? Give me your top 2024 list!

Hmmmm-books are a littler harder for me this year. In full transparent honesty I probably only read like 10 in 2024 which is probably the least amount of reading I’ve ever done. It was just a generally batshit insane year for me so I’m quite embarrassed at how little reading I did. But I do have a couple that I really loved!

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell. This is the second book in their Resolution Universe. The first book isn’t necessary to read for the second one since they’re not a duology. I didn’t really connect with the first book Winter’s Orbit and found it pretty forgettable. I found the characters pretty bland and the romance uninteresting. It was a decently written book just not to my tastes. I picked up Ocean’s Echo in an airport bookstore when I probably normally wouldn’t have after being so disinterested in the first in the universe. But the summary really caught my attention and seemed more my speed and when I tell you I DEVOURED it over the course of a cross country flight. I loved the two leads so much and their romance was just so tasty and I really enjoyed the political mystery plot and supporting cast. I’m really hoping Maxwell writes a third book in this universe where these characters are at least mentioned because I’m dying to know the after affects of the ending.

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. This has been on my tbr for a while and I finally jumped on it at the recommendation of a family member whose judgement I usually trust for books. I actually had a pretty difficult time getting into it. But I think that was more my mood than the book itself because it has a very strong opening. But once I finally got over my weird hump I absolutely burned through this. It’s very grim dark,which I’m immensely picky about and I historically have only bit for this genre with Joe Abercrombie. But I’ve found myself thinking about this book ever since I finished it a couple months ago and I think I’m going to reread it soon,it’s one of those I just need to revisit.

An honorable mention for Bride by Ali Hazelwood. I haven’t read any of Hazelwood’s other professionally published works. Love Hypothesis I read as its original Reylo fan fiction version,though I don’t remember the name. I felt pretty indifferent to it but generally remember liking her writing,if not the premise of the story. I won’t lie I had a BALL reading Bride though. It’s very much what it says on the tin,a campy fanfictiony vampire werewolf romance,which is precisely my kind of jam. It was very very fun. I don’t think I’ll ever read any of Hazelwood’s other published works unless she delves back into creature stuff but Bride was a surprisingly great time.

For Media!

Dev Patel’s Monkey Man was hands down my favorite movie of the year. I’ve rewatched it several times since seeing it in theaters and my love for it only grows with each rewatch. My boyfriend and I share a mutual frothing at the mouth sort of love for Patel and walked into Monkey Man with zero knowledge of what it was about expect for it was his directorial debut and passion project that took years to make. I fucking love this movie, I love everything about it. I’ve heard a lot of reviews all preface with “it’s not a perfect movie by any means but-“Like who gives a shit there is no perfect movie,but it’s perfect in my heart. Patel can do no wrong for me. The soundtrack is amazing,the fight choreography is phenomenal,the writing is tight and from the soul,and it features sweaty shirtless Patel on a platter for your pleasure.

The Fall Guy. This bombed in the theaters and I feel like it was a miss for a lot of people but I loved this movie so much. I used to be pretty indifferent to Ryan Gosling but ironically enough my boyfriend is the one who loves him and has in turn made me fall in love with him as an actor. It’s just such a charming,fun movie that is truly a love letter to stunt actors and movie making. They genuinely broke several records for car flips and never before done stunts making it. It’s for people that love film and film making. My boyfriend and I also constantly quote “You need carbs man! Your brain runs on glucose!”

Nosferatu. This was a right at the finish line watch for 2024. Robert Eggers can do no wrong for me. The North Man is one of my favorite films of all time so he’s truly my baby girl now. I could wax on about how much I love this movie for literal pages. What you must know about me,at the core of my being,is that I am a vampire girly. It is my thing,it will always be my thing. Nosferatu hit in every single way. It’s campy,it’s beautiful,it’s homage,it’s dialogue of feminism and sex and shame (which I think is indescribably important with the bizarre conservative way the United States is turning culturally in regards to sex right now.) It was just spectacular.

Furiosa. Nothing will ever compare to Fury Road,which is another of those movies that is perfect in my heart, but I loved Furiosa. I think,hands down,this is Chris Hemsworth’s best acting role by far. And Anna Taylor Joy is just so emotionally brutal to watch in this. It’s one of those movies that gets better with rewatches too. I’m a big Mad Max fan and Furiosa is such a refreshing deviation from the following of Max in mythology. I really like the idea of branching out the universe to a telling of mythology in general for this universe,and not just Max.

Dune 2 because duh. I don’t have much to say on this that literally everyone else hasn’t already. There’s nothing I can say on it to convince you to watch it if you haven’t already expect for,it finally made me realize why everyone thinks Timothee Chalamet is hot. Only when he yells and is going full Anakin Skywalker though.

Challengers. I fucking love this movie,boy do I love this movie. Tennis is sex and I will watch literally anything that Josh O’Connor is in. The soundtrack fucks so hard and Zendaya can verbally abuse me anytime she likes please and thanks.

I’m quite literally a couple decades behind but I finally watched 28 Days Later. Knowing that Danny Boyle is back on board for 28 years later coming out soon gave me the kick in the pants to finally watch it. I don’t know why it took me so long, I’m a huge Boyle fan. Trainspotting is in my top 10 favorite films of all time. It’s emotionally shocking and gut wrenching in such a stylistically particular way to Boyle. I knew I would love it but zombie movies give me nightmares so I have to mentally prepare myself going into a watch of one. I should have guessed with Boyle though that it’s not really about rage virus victims and more about how humanity is always the true nightmare.

[disappointingyet]

The big 2024 round-up: More or less mainstream

This is one of three parts of my look back at this year in movies, alongside The big 2024 round-up: Arthouse and documentary and my Films of the year.

Dune Part 2

I was surprised how much I liked the first instalment of the Lawrence Of Arabia-inspired space epic – with the effect that I approached Part 2 with much higher expectations. Which in many ways it met. My main issues: the way this very long film suddenly starts rushing towards the end, and I wasn’t sold on Austin Butler as the new bad guy. But in pretty much every other way, Denis Villeneuve, cast and crew have made exactly the movie they set out to make, and it’s impressive and sometimes thrilling.

More thoughts here

The Wild Robot

I'm strongly of the view that the machines are not our friends. This very pretty computer-animated movie argues maybe they could feel love, given the chance? It's the story of Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o), an advanced domestic robot who is shipwrecked on an island with no people but plenty of animals. After a lot of misunderstanding with the inhabitants, she befriends an unpopular fox and has to adopt a gosling she's accidentally orphaned. As I feel I say often these days, the first half of the film is much better than the second, but it's sweet and looks great and is pretty endearing.

Challengers 

I enjoyed Luca Guadagnino’s tennis movie – and it is a actual sports pic rather than the steamy drama that just happened to be set on the ATP circuit that many had assumed – while being fully conscious of its flaws. Zendaya, blonde bloke (Mike Faist) and bloke who looks like Jonathan Richman (Josh O’Connor) are tennis prodigies who fancy each other – but more than sex, this is about ambition and using other people as pawns to outwit fate. The bits where characters talk worked better for me than the ones where they don’t. One of several movies this year that really hinge on whether you like the ending.

Full review here

The Bikeriders 

Who do you get to play strongly accented, authentic working-class Chicagoans? Why, south-west London child of privilege Tom Hardy and Liverpool’s Jodie Comer, of course. In fairness, I think Comer is excellent in this GoodFellas-esque tale of 1960s motorcycle club who kind of accidentally turn into a bike gang. For the first 20 minutes or so, it’s one of the best films of the year. As the story gets grimmer, it loses some momentum. Well worth seeing, though.

Full review here

Monkey Man

In which Dev Patel boldly reinvents himself as an action movie writer-star-director, in a film in which he both repeatedly gets the shit kicked out of him and kicks the shit out of a lot of other people. It’s set in India (although filmed in Indonesia), there’s some good atmosphere stuff and a couple of great action set pieces. Unfortunately, it also seems to want to say SOME BIG IMPORTANT STUFF about India and religion and politics and corruption and marginalised communities that Patel (who, it should be noted, comes from Harrow) is completely out of his depth with. 

The Iron Claw

Brutally depressing based-on-a-true-story wrestling drama. Basically, a classic horrible ex-wrestlers bullies his sons into attempting to do whatever it was that he never managed to do (it's a lot like the story of the Beach Boys, only with people chucking each out of a ring). It goes well occasionally, but he’s a monster and they all suffer and eventually… yeah. Means something to wrestling folk, I guess. People were impressed by how Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson managed to turn themselves into reasonable approximations of 1970s grapplers. It’s all competently made and acted and so on, but I don’t get the point of this kind of sadistic misery fest. 

Snack Shack

This starts off as a hyperactive retro teen comedy – it’s hard to follow what the characters are gabbling about in the first few scenes – but eventually switches gears, how successfully I’m not so sure. Our protagonists are a pair of super-precocious, entrepreneurial 14-year-olds looking for lucrative ways to spend the summer before high school. They end up in charge of the snack kiosk at the local pool and meanwhile, they’re both drawn to the slightly older army-brat girl who is only in town for a couple of months. The year, by the way, is a thankfully pre-web pre-mobile 1991.

I’d heard really good things about this one, and it nails the vibe of the time and place,  and the three leads (Conor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle, Mika Abdalla) are well cast. But I didn’t like the two dudes much and I think we’re meant to be somewhat rooting for them. And it kept reminding me of far, far better movies: Dazed And Confused, The Myth Of The American Sleepover, Licorice Pizza…

The Fall Guy

Did I enjoy this? I certainly did. Am I aware of its flaws? I undoubtedly am. Quite why it needed to use a title and some character names from the early 1980 Lee Majors TV show that only a few of us remember is somewhat inexplicable. They could have simply started from scratch with the idea of a stunt man who investigates a crime. I think Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling are charming together, vital in a film that’s as much romcom as action movie if not more. I was less sold on it as a showcase for the art of stunts – it’s not well-shot enough to convey what we’re meant to be seeing. And the plot is super-flimsy. But the funny bits, for me, outweigh the ropier stuff.

Twisters

Idealistic grad student Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) goes storm chasing with experimental tornado-busting chemicals, it goes horribly wrong, cut to a few years later and one of her old chums (Anthony Ramos) tempts her back into the game. On the tornado circuit (which is a thing, this film would have you believe), they clash with a group of noisy YouTubers led by Tyler (Glen Powell). With the characters, we drive trucks into the path of various tornadoes, we’re asked to rethink Kate’s/our first impressions of some of the characters and it’s all leading up to a mega-storm climax. I think that’s about it? 

Twisters is a film that knows exactly what it is and delivers pretty solidly. Somewhat depends on just how charming you find Powell, meanwhile I found Edgar-Jones a lot more tolerable than I expected. 

Le Comte De Monte Cristo

The folks who brought us the recent two-part Three Musketeers are back with Dumas’ other most famous work. It has similar features: they’re taking it seriously, using tangibly there historical buildings, it’s in French… I’m instinctively treating these as assets for the movie and yet I fell in love with the story as a kid watching the 1934 Hollywood version. 

As with Les Trois Mousquetaires, French + location shooting doesn’t mean more faithful adaptation of the book. The emphasis here is on how cruel the drive for vengeance makes Edmond Dantes, something occasionally overstressed in the dialogue here when it is already clear from the action.

Still, there’s a good reason this has been endlessly adapted – it almost always works (although I advise avoiding the 1975 Richard Chamberlain one), and this is more than decent.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice A.D. 2024

Tim Burton’s very belated sequel is a movie of excellent bits and dud spaces in between. The biggest nostalgia hit for me was actually the opening credits, triggering not just memories of the original but a whole comedy-horror era including other Burton films alongside Men In Black, Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners…. 

Anyway, Winona Ryder’s Lydia is now a telly medium, her daughter (Jenna Ortega, very much the Ryder/Ricci heir) doesn’t like her and her boyfriend is her dodgy producer (Justin Theroux). With her stepmom (Catherine O’Hara), they all end up back at the house from the original movie and there inevitably summon Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton.) 

The better parts of the movie happen in the place where the newly dead are being processed – the design is great and reminiscent of early Burton films. 

The consensus – which I agree with – is that the movie is overstuffed with characters and inconsequential story. Plus, I think it suffers from the lack of less-eccentric characters along the lines of the ones played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in the original. (I also find Ryder’s brittleness hard work.)

But if you liked Burton and have understandably stepped away, this is worth nipping back for as long as you have modest expectations.

Heretic

Imagine Aaron Sorkin wrote a horror movie – it wouldn’t exactly like this but it might be similar. The set-up: two young women (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) doing their Mormon missionary duties arrive at a rather Grimm’s Fairytales-like isolated cottage and are welcomed in from the storm by the owner (Hugh Grant), who is suspiciously eager to discuss questions of faith. Run! Run! But, of course, they don’t.

This is a very, very talky film. Grant’s character is one of those guys (yes, I relate) with too much time to ferment his theories, now seizing his chance to inflict them on an initially willing audience.

That will be maybe an overdose of words for many horror heads. And then when the film does switch in thrills-and-scares mode, it feels a bit second-hand and underwhelming. 

But if you do like horror with a theological slant and/or are enjoying Hugh Grant’s bad guy years, there’s fun to be had.

The Substance 

First, a fair question various people have asked in response to critics blithely referring to this as ‘body horror’ – what do they mean? Like The Fly, is probably the simplest answer. This has no jump scares and the violence happens in one relatively short burst but there’s lots and lots of gross stuff happening to human bodies, including deformities and entrails. Hope that clarifies things.

The Substance has a point it wants to make about the entertainment industry’s disgust at aging female bodies. It has a distinct look, with lots of strong colours, sometimes contrasting with very white rooms, long corridors… The vibe feels 1970s although it is set now. And it has Demi Moore, in the What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? and Sunset Boulevard tradition of once-huge stars making films about women showbiz no longer has a place for.

If you’re the kind of person who likes a film that is focused on its theme, then you might dig The Substance. I liked the design but that was about it. The film is an unjustifiable 2 hours 20 – it’s said most of what it’s usefully going to say in the first 40. It’s a satire but it’s not funny. I guess Moore is fine but it’s a big waste of Margaret Qualley and the only other actor with anything to do is Dennis Quaid, basically as the evils of TV personified. Not keen. (MUBI)

Inside Out 2

The biggest hit of the year – and yet somehow a bit under the radar? The follow-up to many mental health professionals’ favourite Pixar movie picks up with Riley hitting puberty and some new emotions staging a coup in her control room. The awkward business of romance is avoided (this is still a kids pic) – instead the external part of the plot hinges on (ice) hockey camp and the potential to climb the teenage social ladder by dumping your old friends for potential cooler ones. Meanwhile the internal plot has Joy, Anger etc as exiles in the far reaches of Riley’s mind. Almost inevitably not as good as the original but still quite traumatising at moments. 

(Disney+)

Anyone But You 

This is technically a 2023 release but snuck out right at the end of the year. It was initially thought of as a flop but then did the now-rare thing of picking up steam at the box office as the weeks went by, and I became a bit fascinated with it as passed $50 million… $100 million… $200 million! on a $25 million budget, prompting thinkpieces about whether the romcom was back and whether Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney were now A-list stars.

Through all of this, I hadn’t actually seen the movie. I was just enjoying it as a business story. Then eventually I saw it and… yeah, it’s not very good. The plot is Shakespeare-derived and maybe that’s part of the problem, it’s got that exhausting romcom thing of characters doing a bunch of random stuff because the film can’t have them get together yet. There’s also a tiresome raunchiness that feels forced. 

Maxxxine

I did something maybe a little odd, seeing this without having watched the two previous director Ti West + star Mia Goth horror movies – X, to which this is a direct sequel, and Pearl, a 60-years-earlier prequel. But neither of those seemed that appealing, while Maxxxine’s promise of a recreation of scuzzy ‘80s LA plus some Hollywood satire seemed more my bag.

And the look, the apartments, and particularly the video store, deliver. The soundtrack goes a bit too obvious. There are scenery-chewing opportunities gleefully seized by Kevin Bacon, Giancarlo Esposito and Bobby Carnevale. Elizabeth Debicki also gets some speeches about the horror-director-as-artist that you could maybe take as  satire but I suspect are West’s own views. 

Pretty cool.

Conclave

Handsomely mounted – so much scarlet! – political almost thriller. The pope has died and Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is in charge of the election of his successor. He’s in a unique position: he’s in charge of procedure but also a voter and an active member of one of the factions, the cardinals are sequestered and he alone gets news from the outside world. So he’s our point-of-view character. 

The early front runners are a charming American liberal (Stanley Tucci), a charismatic Nigerian representing the less developed world (Lucian Msamati), an outspoken Italian reactionary (a barnstorming Sergio Castellitto) and a smarmy American centrist (John Lithgow), but we know from real life that papal elections can have twists. 

By nature of the story, we’re mostly spending time with a bunch of not-young men. The film, adapted from a novel by Robert Harris, puts us in the liberal camp and seems pretty undisguised in its sympathies. Stylistically, the film harks back to a time when guys-in-a-room talking equalled mainstream entertainment – Twelve Angry Men but slightly more recently the John Grisham era of 1990s – but it’s careful to be current with its ideas.

A film made in Italy by German director Edward Berger with an international cast could seem a bit worrying but Conclave is what it promises: a well-crafted, well-acted middlebrow movie.

Juror #2

So I’d mentioned Twelve Angry Men and John Grisham in my Conclave mini-review and then I saw Clint Eastwood’s new film, which for stretches is fully in tribute mode to Sidney Lumet’s classic while being set, Grisham-like, in the south. There’s something satisfyingly familiar about so much of this film, with the hook being that Juror #2 (Nicholas Hoult) realises he was present in the build up to the crime… and maybe more than that? You get Toni Collette as the politically ambitious prosecutor and JK Simmons as a retired cop who has somehow snuck onto the jury. It’s a solid piece of work from 94(!)-year-old Clint, only slightly weakened by the miscasting of Hoult as a journalist working hard to stay sober.

Emilia Perez

This is a film in which there is a scene that contains a character doing the Carrie Bradshaw thing of narrating what she’s typing while the camera zooms in on the words – and, at the same time, there’s Les Mis-flavour singing -on-the-march going on. This is a film that would like you to think it has something to say about Mexico’s troubles that was filmed in Paris, written and directed by French people and whose third lead (playing a Mexican) is an American pop star whose Spanish is audibly non-native. In other words, sometimes a film is just so far from what you like, it feels unfair to judge it.  

In case you don’t know. Emilia Perez is a a musical directed by Jacques Audiard about a Mexican cartel boss (Karla Sofía Gascón) who transitions to a woman and maybe a better person. Gascón is good in places, people have raved about Zoe Saldaña in this film but I don’t get it and I don’t blame Selena Gomez, I blame the people who cast her.  (Netflix)

Bad Boys: Ride Or Die

I was very pleasantly wrongfooted by 2020’s Bad Boys For Life, which was way better than a legacy sequel to a pair of noisy ‘90s action comedies should be. The downside of that is I approached this one with unreasonable expectations. 

The attempt at freshening things up is that Will Smith’s Mike, usually the cocky one, is now anxious, while Martin Lawrence’s Marcus feels invincible after a near-death experience, so the balance of their partnership/friendship is flipped, or at least that’s the idea. 

If you’ve seen any of the previous films, you know what to expect. There are gags, explosions, fast cars etc. it’s fine but it’s absolutely never surprising.